White Roses
by TheEchoingSoul
Summary: Ib is accepted to a prestigious art academy and for the first time makes friends, but everything is not what it seems. After dark, strange things begin to happen and students are starting to go missing. Is this all a coincidence or something sinister at work? Slight AU. T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ib or any of the original characters.**

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

― Edgar Degas

Chapter One

Violent streaks of gold and white flashed across the stormy canvas. Drops of water blended into groups beat at the glass that divided the two worlds. Each splash hitting, only to slide down and disappear, ineffective. The sound of cymbals fused with the high-pitched whistle and roaring clatter of the train on its ascension across the tracks.

Ib shivered, the chill of the window finally getting to her. The gloomy weather outside made her think of home and how warm it would be at this time of year. There wouldn't be clouds or rain; just the sun's warmth, a light breeze, and a whirlwind of events (These she could do without), such as the outdoor parties her parents would attend or even host. It didn't really matter since Ib would be dragged along anyway and expected to take part, or be the scapegoat when faced with talking to the undesirables, to put it mildly.

Ib unconsciously wrapped her topcoat tighter around herself, grateful that those events wouldn't repeat themselves again this year. Instead, Ib has successfully managed to land a spot at Saint Rose Academy, a prestigious and highly selective art school. It's even rumoured that anyone who attends, let alone graduates, is set for life, and, though far from home, her parents couldn't refuse such a rare opportunity. It would be a golden topic of conversation at those garden parties.

The day the scout had visited her home was still engraved into her mind. The man had had fair, long hair held back in a low ponytail, stubble, and his body frame was thick, nearly muscular. He had worn brown slacks and a matching vest over a white button up, which had stood out in the lavish room. Even the decor had looked too expensive in comparison, but that man hadn't even batted an eye or given a hint that he was uncomfortable. Instead, he was confident and had an unexplainable presence that demanded attention. He carried her portfolio with him, and gracefully laid it out on the coffee table, went through a few minor details, and then handed Ib her acceptance letter.

Not two months later was she sent off, her parents driving her to the airport where they said goodbye, before catching a plane to America, switching planes twice, until finally boarding a train which would take her to Nivis Alba, a city, before she would have to hail a cab to the academy. All in all, it should have taken three to four days at least.

It was nearing the fifth day and Ib felt worn out. She hadn't been able to properly sleep on either planes due to excessive noise and crude people who either sat behind, in front of, or even next to her. The train was by far quite lax, but Ib felt to wired up to even attempt sleeping. The mere idea that she would be attending such a world-renowned school wasn't very nerve-wracking yet, it was the knowledge that her parents' influence would no longer reach her. She would know no one and others wouldn't know her parents, which usually equaled them attempting to be friendly.

Not knowing people, of course, was supposed to be part of the experience, but Ib had a problem with conversation and herself. From a young age, other children and even some adults would comment on her eyes. They would leave her out and some parents even told their children to stay away from her. Her eyes were always the first thing people commented on or looked act, which usually resulted in them feeling uncomfortable and either finding a hurried excuse to leave or staring at something else, knowing to be tactful. Still, smaller children and sometimes older children would still point it out. Over the years Ib had become accustomed to this and opted to stay silent most of the time, or even occupy herself so that others didn't feel that they had to approach her.

Ib peered out the window, watching the station approach as the conductor's voice broke through the silence, saying what they were paid to say at every drop-off. Ib stood and grabbed her luggage, hurrying out onto the platform before anyone could offer her assistance. She didn't want to bother anyone.

A single word to describe the train station would be grey. It was void of large quantities of people, the lighting was dim, and it felt empty. Ib could hear her steps and the rolling of her luggage like an elephant charging up stairs echoing all around her. She was self-conscious of it, but kept going nonetheless. She paused at the double doors, watching the rain fall for a moment before heading out. Cars flew past her, the rain was making it hard to stare anywhere but down, and a cab driver ignored her attempts to get him to stop.

It was a few minutes later when a taxi finally stopped and Ib hurried for the door, only to be met with another hand. They both drew their hands back, looking at one another in surprise. "You can have it." The male said, taking a step back and smiling good-naturedly. Ib wasn't sure why, but she grabbed his coat to stop him.

"We can split it."

"No, it's fine. Really." He said, but eventually gave in as the rain picked up.

The cab driver was putting their things into the trunk as they both waited in the backseat. The boy was running a hand through his damp lavender hair while Ib looked out the window. It was slightly awkward. "So, where are you headed?" Lavender guy asked, breaking the silence.

"St. Rose academy." Ib replied, watching as the guy paused. "Really? So am I. I didn't know they accepted children."

Ib returned her attention to the window, not bothering to reply.

"I didn't mean any offense, it's just that this school is like a college." Ib only nodded.

"My name's Garry."

"Ib."

_Little did they know that from that moment on they would endure together._

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**A/N: Hello Ib fans! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of White Roses, 'cause more are coming your way! ...It's sooo short! I sowwwy!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ib /3 sadness!  
Note: There are some REALLY MINOR OCs 'cause the Ib cast is very small.

* * *

Light in Nature creates the movement of colors.

-Robert Delaunay

Chapter Two

The rain was like a wave, cool and together. The wave moved across the window, only to be replaced with another as the tides turned. The wind shuffled so close, but just on the other side of the wave, like a lover, waiting to meet. The moan of the waves and calling of wind...Such loneliness, but what is it from? Are they forbidden to be together? Were they separated by disaster? Maybe a one-sided love?

Ib blinked again, turning away from the window and her thoughts towards Garry, who looked rather...worried.

"Sorry, but I was wondering if you wanted to play Old Maid. To pass the time?" Garry looked slightly uncomfortable when Ib didn't answer right away.

Ib wasn't too sure if she should. Was it strange that they just met and he wanted to play cards? The taxi driver had told them it would be a long ride, so maybe he was bored. There was nothing outside the window to really took at due to the rain, and Ib really didn't want to say no.

He shuffled the cards, the sound creating such a strange noise. The cards themselves were worn, the numbers that flashed before her were nearly unreadable. Each movement was thoughtless, a subconscious action he probably was used to doing. Ib wasn't sure why, but it was captivating. No one had ever done this in her presence before. Her fingers itched to sketch the scene, but her sketchbooks were among her suitcases in the trunk.

Garry passed out the cards and explained the rules, which were fairly simple. The only problem was that Garry had the old maid and, in cards, had a nonexistent poker face, but he chalked it down to Ib just being lucky. Denial.

Almost an hour later Garry decided to stop playing after losing every game of Old Maid and Go Fish (But he had won two rounds of War). Ib didn't mind, his expressions and outbursts were comical, even the driver laughed a few times. Slowly they drifted back into a now comfortable silence, something Ib wasn't used to, but couldn't bring herself to break. How does one make friends anyway?

"Hey, kid, what class are you taking. I'm taking culinary and a few others." Garry, even though he had just met her, had noticed that he had to give a little for her to respond.

"Advanced art classes. I didn't know they had culinary." Ib replied, surprised that he cooked, but chided herself for judging on appearances.

"Yup. Culinary, arts, music, and they even have photography." Garry replied, "Every student has a major and takes a class or two in another category. Are you sure you only have art classes?"

Ib nodded, "That's what the letter told me. All my classes are for art."

"Well, don't worry. I'll go with you to the office to see if there's a mistake." He offered, and Ib was awed that he knew she was worried. Not even her parents could usually tell when she was nervous. She was about to voice her surprise when their attention was claimed by the cab driver, who was announcing that the school was just down the path.

Ib shifted her attention to look out the window to see the school grow closer. From what the brochure had said, the school was near the outskirts of Nivis Alba, surrounded by the forest. The path they had driven on was asphalt, and then dirt, but now it was cobblestone. A path of stones that led to the school. Charming.

Ib first saw the stone gate way, an intricate iron one, but she couldn't make out the designs due to the waves of rainwater. The building was next and even though the sky was dark and it was raining the building was beautiful. It was older Victorian style with a hint of gothic. There were a mix of bay-windows, casement windows, and regular windows evenly spread across the front. There were columns that created something akin to a barrel vault attached to the building. The building was made of goldish red stone and wood.

It was silent as the cab pulled up, parallel to the building. The two stepped out of the cab and anxiously moved towards the door to get out of the rain, before remembering their luggage. The driver laughed as he handed them their bags and bid them goodbye.

The two hurried into the building and Ib couldn't help but marvel at the entrance's high ceiling or the intricate designs that laced the wooden beams. It was all so lovely, but Ib couldn't help but notice that the style of the architecture were things she'd seen before, such as the cut or the fancy chandelier design.

"Ib, we should head for the office." Ib turned to him and nodded, following him since he seemed to know where he was going.

They walked in silence, their step resounding off the floor. The light coming through the windows were dim and Ib checked her watch, surprised that it read 7:15 since she had thought it would be earlier.

"Uh, Ib, do you know where we're going?" Garry asked, turning to look down at her.

Ib just looked at him blankly. "Weren't you leading?"

"We're lost." He said miserably, dropping to his knees on the floor and Ib couldn't help but find it comical, but composed herself.

Now she was faced with a problem. Garry had started all conversation thus far and now wasn't talking. Should she comfort him? What if he didn't want her sympathy? This was such a dilemma. Finally, Ib decided to just bend down and stare at him. It probably wasn't the greatest thing to do, but she wasn't comfortable in touching him and the words were lost to her. Maybe she could portray it through her eyes or body language.

It either worked, he realized he was the older one, or Garry just internally got over it because he smiled at her and stood up, "Don't worry, we'll find someone." Ib only nodded and stood up and followed him.

They knocked on doors and walked down a ton of hallways, but no one was there. They even found the office, but like the building, it was barren of people. While walking down the hall Ib paused, staring at a painting of a woman dressed in red from the chest and up. The plaque underneath them read The Red Lady. Ib turned away from the painting and noticed Garry was no longer with her.

Thinking rationally, Ib began to walk down the hall where they had headed to earlier. Garry probably hadn't noticed she'd stopped and kept walking. Ib made sure to keep an ear out for the sound of Garry's footsteps when she heard something crash behind her. She jumped and turned around, but didn't see anything. Against her better judgement, curiosity won out and she began walking to where the sound came from.

Cautiously she can across a shattered window. She looked down the corridor for the source but didn't hear or see anyone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow pass by the window and snapped her head forward to look, but didn't see anything. Ib took a step back and was ready to just say it was her imagination when she saw a black hand reaching through the window.

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A/N: Bwahahahahahaha, cliffhanger! Sorry about that, but it had to be done. I won't set a date for the next update but it may not be until sometime later this week depending on how school goes.

Anyway, I've looked up some basic architecture-y words and have tried to describe them the best I can. I really suck at architecture.

On another note, _**THANK YOU**_to all the followers, the favorites, and the two reviews. I was really surprised and I even teared up a bit. You all are amazing and I hope not to disappoint. BTW, if any of you have any ideas or questions just drop a review or a message and I shall answer these things to the best of my ability without giving too much away. :D  
Anyway, chapters should get longer (Normally my stories-the ones on my other account-are usually over 3000 words and some even reach over 5000, so look forward-or not-to that!).  
See ya all next chapter!

**P.S.** If anyone could recommend quotes pertaining to art or really anything. Thanks :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry-  
Note: There are some REALLY MINOR OCs, 'cause the Ib cast is very small.

Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.

-Oscar Wilde

Recap! Ib took a step back and was ready to just say it was her imagination when she saw a black hand reaching through the window.

Chapter Three

It's strange, you know. How one describes the absence of colour. Dark. Black. Abyss. Jet. Never ending. There are so many words to describe what it looks like, but not what it feels like. How does one describe something that shouldn't even be felt? Do they really feel it, or do they simply use words that they already know to describe it, not truly correct, but also not wrong? How does one describe it? This feeling of emptiness, of despair and such bone deep sorrow?

Ib wasn't sure how to answer it herself, but she felt weighted, like something was trying to crush her. There was also the feeling of being incomplete, of fading with every breath that was caught in her throat. If she had to describe what she could see it would be nothing. A word people usually described as black. A deep chasm that, like ink, flowed but lacked the life of things of shapes were everywhere, but nowhere, like shadows within a shadow, eating each other.

Where do these shadows even come from? Perhaps they are light's imperfections that aren't normally seen, or even those who only dwell within the shadows, but not in the way most people think. These shadows could be the unnoticed people, the afterimages that are not scene by the eyes of man. Could this be true? Is that why this darkness feels so... lamentable? Empty?

Ib could feel it, a covering that chilled her skin. She glanced around, could see nothing, but knew she was there, floating. She looked at what would have been down-for all she knew it could be up-and while seeing nothing, felt her foot hit a surface. It didn't create a sound, but the dark rippled just a bit like water. For just a second, Ib could hear something.

_O..e da.._

_I ...ell ...eep_

_a... ...ever ...ke ..._

She tried to listen, the words sounding familiar, but just as she was stringing together them together the black became restless. It swarmed up her leg, clawing and spreading as it tried to consume her. Ib tried to move but where was she to escape to? This place was nothing, she couldn't even see her own hands in front of her face. It consumed her waist and was reaching further when all of a sudden Ib felt dizzy. It was nearly unbelievable and cliche that she would faint at a time like this, but she couldn't help it.  
As her eyelids grew heavier Ib could faintly feel something wrap around her, only it wasn't cold or empty. She couldn't put her finger on it, but whatever this was felt... safe? Ib saw the darkness getting farther away, could feel the rush of wind after a pop met her ears, until she could no longer keep her eyes forced open.

* * *

She watched the brunette reappear from the dark puddle and observed the way she stood before slowly falling over onto her side. Her hair was spread out around her, some of it tangled with the shattered glass as the window repaired itself. The rain water evaporated and the dark puddle turned back into the hand and disappeared into the wall.

She turned her head and observed the boy, his face ashen as he shook from where he had fallen on the floor in shock. He was such a wimp, freaking out over that girl disappearing and reappearing again. It was ridiculous. Weren't boys supposed to be brave, valiant men that protected the weak? How disappointing this was.

Finally the boy composed himself and called out what was probably the girl's name, before hurrying over to her and checking her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when she lightly groaned and blinked her eyes open. They conversed (mostly the boy), exchanging statements of disbelief and confusion.

She giggled, these two seemed like fun. She stared at the brunette. How peculiar she was. There was something... off about her, something that made her weary but extremely curious. The boy wasn't too bad, but he wasn't striking like the girl... What did that boy call her? ...Ib. Yes, Ib that was her name.

She heard something to her left and silently cursed the timing. Of course that repugnant witch would ruin her fun. With a final glance back at Ib she smiled before disappearing. Things would finally be getting exciting around here. It was time for the play to begin.

* * *

Garry and Ib jumped in surprise when a loud voice broke the silence. They whirled around to see a woman with neat greying hair held in a tight bun. Her clothes were very professional and stiff, and her glasses were perfectly straight on her pointed noise. Her beady eyes glared at them as she stalked closer, "What are you two doing here this late at night!?"

"Umm..I..we... uh." Garry tried to form a sentence but couldn't find the words under the woman's stern stare.

"We are lost." Ib coolly replied, drawing both of their attention. Garry was surprised she had said anything and was even more surprised when she took out an ID card from her coat pocket and handed it to the woman.

The woman straightened her glasses and analyzed the card with more scrutiny than was needed before handing Ib her card back. "I see and you?" The woman clucked her tongue as he desperately searched his black coat for the ID that was given to him in his acceptance letter. He was sweating profusely by the time he shakily handed over his ID. The woman stopped her tapping foot and briefly read through it before handing it back.

"Both of you have arrived late. Follow me to the dorms." She curtly replied, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked away. The two followed behind her silently. Garry ran a hand through his hair before glancing at his watch and pausing. It read 7:15 but that couldn't be! It was 7:15 when they first started searching for the office. That couldn't be right!

"Ib, what time is it?" Garry asked and glanced down at Ib's watched. The girl also paused, it read 7:15 also, but... how could that be? They looked at one another and Garry was just about to ask how this could be when the woman coughed, staring at them.

"Hurry up."

"Yes ma'am." Garry replied and both continued to follow after her.

They were lead out of the central wing and all the way over to the northeast doors where they exited the building. They walked along a path until finally coming to, strangely enough, a Japanese type building. "These are the male dorms. Your room number is 207 on the second floor. The door is unlocked and you shall receive the key tomorrow morning in the office." Garry nodded.

"I'll see you later, Ib." Garry said, waving a few times before hurrying into the strange house.

The two females continued onwards. They didn't talk as they walked, only listening to the night. "Miss... Ib, these are the female dorms. Your room in located on the ground floor and is number twelve. It is unlocked and your key shall be ready for you in the office tomorrow morning. Do enjoy your first night."

Ib quickly walked into the Japanese styled building and was relieved to find that the doors were western styled. She walked past the entrance and to the left, scouting for her room number absently. That woman was like the others. She probably recognized her last name and her parents or something along that line. Ib really hated that. The lady tried to be professional but Ib caught her several times looking at her eyes, and each time she was caught the lady would snap her head forward.

Ib sighed as she found her door and would have walked inside if she hadn't heard something from next door. It was a soft scratching sound accompanied by broken whispering. Ib debated ignoring it when she heard a crash. Cautiously she walked over towards the door and knocked lightly. The sounds on the other side paused before continuing. The whispering grew louder and Ib was able to catch a few things before something slammed against the door, causing her to nearly fall backwards, but Ib steadied herself.

Hesitantly she entered her own room, reminding herself that she shouldn't get involved. It wasn't any of her business. Ib closed the door and set her bags down and decided to go to bed. She laid in the bed and couldn't help but frown at the unfamiliar feeling. Eventually she twisted and turned, thinking of the events from earlier. She glanced at her watch, 9:20 PM. It displayed the correct time so it wasn't broken, but then why did it glitch earlier? It had said 7:15, but Ib had checked it before then and it had displayed the same time. Garry's watch had done the same thing... Could it be a coincedence? What about that hand and the dark place?

Garry had even said that he saw her disappear and reappear, and Ib could faintly remember the feeling of being cold and something trying to swallow her and then... Garry's worried face. It was strange, but she could still feel the chills. Ib looked at her wrist as she rolled up her sleeve, staring at it absently as the chills lingered. She pulled the covers closer around her, shoving everything to the side for later. She had to get to sleep, after all.

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**A/N:**Third chapter complete~! Anyone else excited? Me? Umm -hides self-awesome-party- a little. This chapter really gave me some problems at the beginning and at the end. I sort of smoothed over Ib's and Garry's conversation due to time constraints, but they did briefly discuss what happened and Garry freaked about her disappearing and reappearing. Before they could REALLY talk about the important stuff they were interrupted. Yup.

Thank you reviewers and subscribers! I really appreciate you all!

Drop a review, pretty please?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise.  
Note: There are some **REALLY MINOR OCs**, 'cause the Ib cast is very small.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

-Thomas Merton

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Chapter Four

It was a dance. Long, lanky limbs moving swiftly but vivacious and airy in the way they moved. Staying within range of the start, they join the other dancers sometimes in a ballet or waltz. Music was deafening only to them, colouring and moving them without restraint, unawares of their own music heard only by the listeners. For so long they would remain hidden, only shadows and gray flashes, but most knew what they were, could hear them long after the images were gone. How frightening, but beautiful the patterns of swaying leaves were stretched out along the ceiling.

Ib couldn't stop watching them, the pictures that only her ceiling at this time would play. The leaves were different, their secrets and dances laid out across the canvas. Even though gray and black, the leaves and tree limbs were beautiful, albeit different from their outer colourful facade in that they were free and no one could tell who they were. It was like a masked man meeting his beloved, only to meet again without the mask, he knew her, but she only knew the mask. Evidently the mask may be his true self, a release from the persona he uses daily. How tiring, a double mask to hide one's true self.

Ib turned her eyes away from the dancers, fixing them on the wall that separated this room from the one that she had tried to knock on just the night before. She could faintly hear something, but could not place what it was. She looked back up at the ceiling before sitting up, today would be her first day and she would have to go in early to receive her key and speak with the office about her schedule, she had forgotten to ask the woman.

She stood and walked over to her suitcase that she had yet to unpack, and pulled out her uniform: an orchid coloured skirt that was ruffled, a matching shirt with puffed short sleeves with white trim, the shirt also had a collar, but underneath it was a white shirt. Ib put it on along with her white socks and black shoes. The uniform, in all, wasn't too bad, but she wished there were sleeves, but all the other uniforms that were ordered hadn't come in yet. She grabbed a bag from her chair and left the room, wondering just what the day would bring. What of Garry? Would he still be as friendly, or would he think that she was weird and say away?

Ib could feel her mood dampen. It seemed like they could be friends, but he may have just been being polite. At least he had been a lot more tactful than most. She walked out of her room, closing the door and walked down the hall. A few other girls passed her, but didn't pause only looking back at Ib with tired, but curious eyes. Ib knew rumours would probably be circulating within an hour, if she was lucky.

Ib had just reached the door when she heard someone call out from behind her. "Hey! You!" Ib turned around, tensing as a girl with short dirty-blonde hair jogged over, blue eyes sparkling. "You're new, right?" Ib shrunk a little at her loud voice that echoed through the hall.

"Y-y-yes." Ib shyly replied, backing away from the girl who was to close for comfort.

"I knew it!" She laughed loudly, "My name's Amelia Jones!" She didn't wait for Ib to reply, grabbing her arm and dragging her out while talking non-stop.

"You're going to love St. Rose Academy. It's a pretty cool place, and the cafeteria food is awesome! There are a lot of different people here and there are tons of classes! I'm majoring in photography! There's culinary, different forms of art, some writing classes, and-Oh, here's the building! Isn't it awesome!? Like, all the decor is really pretty and victorian-y!"

Ib was trying to keep up with both Amelia and her mouth, but it was becoming rather difficult, especially when the school came into view.

"Man, oh man, I'm so hungry! I can't wait to chow down, you know? Hey, did I tell you that the food here is absolutely amazing!?" Amelia asked, walking even faster. "Man! I can taste those pancakes now!"

Ib finally couldn't keep up and happened to trip on an uneven stone. She would have fallen face-first if Amelia hadn't still been gripping her arm, so instead she hit her knee. Amelia quickly let go and let Ib steady herself. "Oh my, are you alright?" Her voice was much calmer, worry coloring it. Ib stood up, ignoring the sting that her now bleeding knee gave her, and nodded. She was ready to continue, but Amelia had another idea.

She picked Ib up bridal style and ran all the way to the nurse's office. Students moved out the girl's way instantly, whispers following along with laughter. Ib couldn't help but want to hide or at least repress this memory. It was very embarrassing! All she had wanted was to go to the office and pick up her key and ask about her schedule, instead a girl she had just met was carrying her like a princess through a good one-third of the student body, and it was all because of a bloody knee! Well, at least the girl hadn't walked off and left her alone. That was a plus.

Amelia kicked open the door to, what Ib guessed, was the nurse's office. The nurse didn't even turn around when she said, "Hello, Amelia. What seems to be the problem today?"

"She's injured!"

"Place her on the cot." The woman stated, going to the cabinet and taking out a few things.

Amelia carefully placed Ib down on the mattress before moving to stand by the bed. The nurse walked over and examined Ib's knee for a few seconds, before smiling, "Just a flesh wound." It seemed she was mainly telling Amelia since the girl sighed in relief. The nurse turned to the girl, "Oh, Amelia. What happened this time?"

The girl rubbed the back of her head and stared at the floor. "I heard there was a new girl, so I wanted to show her around..."

The nurse sighed, "Amelia, how many times do I have to tell you to be careful? It's good that you wanted to help a fellow classmate, but you must remember to keep in mind what they want." She turned to Ib and then back to Amelia, "Do you even know her name yet?"

"Well,..um..no." She admitted, fidgeting slightly as she looked down at the floor.

"You see? You just dragged this poor girl off without even knowing her name. You need to remember your manners." She scolded before turning to Ib, "What is your name?"

"Ib."

"It's great to meet you! ...Sorry, about earlier." Amelia said, putting her hand out. Not wanting to be rude, Ib did the same and they shook hands, only Ib winced, Amelia had a strong grip.

"Now then, Miss Ib where were you heading this morning?" The nurse inquired, cleaning out the wound and placing a bandage over it.

"The office."

"I know where that is! I can take you!" Amelia piqued up, even raising her hand.

"I don't know." Started the nurse, but Amelia didn't miss a beat. "We won't run, promise! I'll just take her to the office! Scouts honor!"

The nurse sighed, "Alright, but first will you please go grab a few paper towels from the bathroom for me?" Amelia saluted and was out the door, "I'll be right back!"

The nurse chuckled and Ib couldn't help but notice that the woman's hair was shorter than Amelia's and hugged her face. "Oh, dear I'm quite sorry about her, but Amelia really doesn't mean any harm. She's just...spirited and gets carried away at times. I do hope you won't hold this against her." Ib just nodded, Amelia didn't seem like a bad person. "Oh, how rude of me! I'm Charlotte Goldie, head nurse here at St. Rose."

She couldn't say anymore. Amelia was back, holding two stacks of paper towels. "Thank you, Amelia. Just set them on the counter, would you?" Once Amelia did so, Charlotte smiled, "You both are free to go, now. Have a good day girls."

Ib stood up and followed Amelia out the door with a wave to the nurse. As they walked down the hall Amelia turned to her, "I'm really sorry about that...can you forgive me?" Ib nodded, it was only a minor cut, no big deal.

The girl's eyes lit up and she clasped Ib's hands, "Really? Awesome! Let's go, come on!" She said, laughing while walking a bit faster, but Ib noticed that Amelia was going slow enough for her to keep up. Ib couldn't help but smile a bit at the kind action, but why hadn't she said anything yet around...No, she should be happy that she wasn't bringing it up... Maybe she hadn't even noticed. That thought was enough to make Ib smile a tad before they reached the office.

Amelia opened the door and walked in, Ib behind her. There entrance was met with a loud sigh from one of the secretaries, "Amelia, it's not even eight yet, what have you done now?"

"I didn't do anything! Promise! I'm just helping her." She stepped away and all gazes fell on Ib. The girl looked down, but could feel the eyes like bugs crawling across her skin. A lough resonated through the room and Ib glanced over to see it was a boy, "Caught another victim, huh?"

Amelia crossed her arms, "Shut up! No one asked you, Dmitri!"

"I wasn't speaking with you, rat."

"What did you say you-"

Ib tuned them out, walking towards the secretary who smiled brightly at her. "Quite an exciting morning on your first day, huh?" She said, laughing.

Ib nodded, "I was told that my key was here."

"Oh, yes, yes, here you go." The woman said and handed it to her. "Is there anything else?"

"Well, yes..." Ib started, but the other two began to yell louder.

"Go die in a hole!"

"You wouldn't even fit in one, would you, Zhirnyy?"

Unbeknownst to them, another student had entered and would have left, knowing this was another regular Amelia Vs. Dmitri Verbal fight. Alas, he was not just any student, and he was on assignment. He coughed, "Dmitri! Amelia! Stop this at once!"

"(S)He started it!" They yelled, pointing fingers at each other. The boy only sighed.

"Soaru, good morning, my friend." Dmitri greeted as if he just wasn't fighting with the girl next to him. Amelia greeted him also, nearly in the same manner only she hugged him. The boy, Soaru, blushed and pushed her off, coughing into his hand.

"What'cha doing here?" Amelia asked, glancing at him, only to finally notice the other boy with him. "Hey, who're you?"

Soaru sighed, "This is Garry. He's a new student."

Amelia opened her mouth in surprise but quickly smiled excitedly, "Me too! That's why I'm here!" She pointed at Ib, "She's new too!"

Ib looked over and was surprised to see Gary waving in her direction. Not sure what to do, she allowed Amelia to drag her over to the group. "Okay, so I'm Amelia, as you know, that's Soaru Sato and he's the student council president, and that idiot is Dmitri Braginski. Everyone, this is Ib!"

Ib just stared at her shoes, the buckle was quite new and looked to be made of metal. "Hello, Ib. Have you asked about your schedule yet?" Garry asked and Ib looked up in surprise. "I promised I would go with you, remember?" Ib nodded, unsure of what to say...She felt a tiny shred of hope that he really meant it.

"What!? You're schedule! What's wrong with it?" Amelia asked, looking at Ib.

"She doesn't have an elective." Garry explained for her.

"May I take a look?" Soaru asked Ib, and she pulled out schedule for him. He read through and looked pensive, "You're right, I believe a class may have been added by accident. Don't worry, I'll take care out if." He smiled, heading over to the secretary, "Mrs. Lanz, is the vice principal or administrator in yet?"

"Yes, he's in his office."

Soaru turned back to Ib, "If you would wait just a few minutes." Then he left.

Dmitri whistled, "He really knows how to get things done, no?"

"What class would Ib be put in?" Garry asked, glancing at Ib.

"Well, they'll probably see which classes have openings and Soaru will probably come out and ask her. They're pretty good with things like this." Dmitri replied, taking a seat at a table in the room. Amelia sat across from him, nodding enthusiastically. The other two remained standing.

"So, you two know each other? Secret lovers, long lost friends, do you like pancakes?" Amelia asked and Dmitri snickered. "That last one didn't even fit, stupid."

Amelia glared at him, but before she could Garry replied, "Wh-what!? No! We just happened to meet each other yesterday at the train station!"

Amelia frowned, "Alright, no need to yell." She smiled then, glancing at Garry, "Awe, denial is cute!" Garry blushed and tried to deny it, but Amelia was laughing much to hard to listen.

Ib looked at the wall, before glancing at Dmitri when he tapped her hand from his seat. He smiled, "Don't worry, Amelia is much, but not everyone is like her. I'm sure you'll like it here, so cheer up, yes?" Ib nodded, feeling a bit better.

At that moment Soaru walked out of the principal's office, "Miss Ib, there aren't many classes open, but you do have a few options. There's a drummer needed for orchestra or you can help out in one of the fashion classes, they also run a cafe here."

"Oh! That sounds like fun! What are you going to choose!?" Amelia asked excitedly.

"Bands cool! Drummers are amazing." Dmitri argued, but Soaru only sighed at them.

Ib shrunk a bit, unsure of what to choose. On one hand she didn't want to play the drum, but on the other hand she wasn't sure what a 'fashion class' would have in store for her.

"Hey, don't worry," Garry reassured her. "Just choose the one you want to do, even if just a little. You may like it in the end."

Ib nodded. Thinking about it, she knew drums didn't interest her, but fashion might be more...enthralling. Garry could be right, she may end up liking it. "The second option, please."

Soaru smiled and wrote the information on her schedule and handed it to her, "I'll send a note to the teacher to inform her ahead of time. Now, why don't you all head on to breakfast. They may not have many pancakes left if you don't hurry."

"What?!" Amelia shot up, "Let's go then! Move it!"

"Amelia, you should be careful. You might have to carry Ib through the school again." Dmitri teased, having heard the rumours and seen a flash of it himself.

Amelia pouted, Ib looked at her shoes, and Garry was confused. Soaru merely sighed, "Luno and Lumi are waiting for you."

"Really!? Ib, come sit with me!" Amelia called, dragging Ib towards the door, but Ib grabbed Garry's sleeve. "Can he come to?" Amelia blinked then smiled, "Yup! The more the merrier!"

Dmitri clapped a hand on Garry's shoulder, "Good luck, you'll need it with her." He indicated towards Amelia with his chin and smiled. "I'll see you all later."

"Whatever!" Amelia yelled back as she dragged the two new students from the office.

"Should we have really let them go alone with Amelia?" Soaru asked hesitantly, still staring at the door.

"Lumi and Luno will be there, maybe Gillian will be there too, no?"

Soaru sighed, silently praying for Ib and Garry's sanity.

"Oh, they'll both be fine. Amelia is loud and rather emotional, but the red-eyed girl is very quiet. They may become very good friends." Mrs. Lanz spoke-up, catching the two boys off guard. "As for the boy...He'll be good friends with that girl, they're already closer."

The two boys didn't quite get it.

* * *

"Garry."

"What is it, Ib?" He asked, sliding his tray down the line next to Ib's, Amelia already half down the line.

"Thank you...For coming with me, I mean." Ib said, staring at her tray.

"It's nothing. If you need anything I'll always help you."

It was silent before Ib suddenly asked, "...What about yesterday?"

"Let's talk about that...Somewhere less open." Garry suggested quietly and Ib didn't reply, staying quiet.

Garry looked at her then at his tray. Ib was talking more than she had yesterday, and it made conversation a bit easier. It was a bit hard to believe that already so much had happened, strange things, but he was taking it quite well. He glanced at Ib again, she looked a bit sad but also neutral. Her face was a relaxed, and she wasn't smiling but she also wasn't frowning.

The two received their pancakes and followed Amelia to a table where a boy and girl were sitting. Both had very fair, pale-blonde hair only the girl's hair was just past the nape of her neck in the back, but was cut diagonally so it was longer in front, and the boy's hair was longer, held in a half bun that cascaded to his shoulders. As they approached, the two looked up and Ib couldn't help but notice that their eyes were a bright blue colour.

"Hey Lumi! Luno!" Amelia yelled, waving a tanned arm. Lumi smiled and waved back, eyes lighting up as they closed in and sat down. Amelia pushed Garry next to Luno and Ib on Lumi's left, taking the girl's right. "Lumi, Luno, this is Ib and that's Garry! They're new students!"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you!" Lumi said, gripping Ib's forearm in greeting, doing the same to Garry. "Hey, Luno, say hello."

"I know. It's a pleasure." He stated, also gripin Ib's and Garry's forearm.

Lumi smiled, "So, you've had an exciting morning, huh?"

Garry grimaced and Ib took a bite out of her pancakes.

"That answers that." Luno stated while standing, "I have to get to class. That man can't seem to do anything by himself. I shall see you later." He turned to Lumi and they both put a hand to their hearts and then extended their hands into a wave.

"Good luck." Lumi replied.

"Are you two...Going out?" Garry asked, only for Amelia to snort and laugh through the food in her mouth. Garry blushed as she laughed so hard she turned red.

Lumi only chuckled, "No-no, Luno is my brother. We're twins to be exact."

"O-oh." Garry replied awkwardly as he stared at his tray.

"Don't worry, you're not the first or last to think such a thing. Ib, did you think so also?"

Ib shook her head, "No. I could tell you were siblings, only your eyes are a bit lighter."

Lumi looked surprised, "Really, no one else has ever noticed that. You must be really observant."

Ib looked down at her half eaten food shyly. She had thought it obvious.

"Well, I believe classes are going to start soon. Do you two need any help getting to class?" Lumi asked, and Garry looked down. "Well, I'm not sure where this room is." The two stood up and Lumi looked at the room number, "Oh! I know where that is! I can show you the way. Ib may I see yours?"

Ib handed the paper over and Lumi smiled again, "You're a bit far, but both your classrooms aren't too far from one another, I'll show you the way."

"Hey! Ib is my new student!" Amelia whined.

"Your classroom is in the opposite direction."

"I wanna go."

"Mrs. Petri will be very angry, and you can't afford another detention."

Amelia was silent for a few seconds, "Well, I'll see you guys later! See ya!"

"So...overwhelming." Garry muttered, watching Amelia leave.

"Come on you two, or else you'll be late!"

* * *

The walls were lit up by the rays flowing through the window, gleaming off the chandeliers and reflecting onto the walls. The floors were still shiny, pristine, and empty in a way. Shoes clicked and echoed as they hit the floor, but continued on, ignoring the hollow sound. The painting looked out from their frames, showing emotion that may or may not be warmth or cold in the sun or shade. Their colours were there, but worn by the sun. Overshadowed due to light, how morbid and sorrowful. They could only wait for night,but even then if the lights were turned off they would be consumed in the night's shade.

Ib turned her attention back to her class, wanting more than nothing for the teacher to stop talking. She wanted to paint and from what she heard, that is exactly what they were doing, and it was free-hand. For the most part, her other art two art classes that she'd had earlier were not bad, only bland because the teacher was telling them what to draw, but in this one she would finally be able to do what she wanted.

After this class would be lunch, and then her final class of the day. She was a bit nervous, but excited for lunch. Before they had parted, Lumi had asked Garry and her to eat with them, and they'd agreed. Ib couldn't help but be happy, even when someone in every class she had so far asked if red was her natural eye colour, though it still bothered her. Many students had tried talking to her, but, like when she was younger, they saw her eyes and grew nervous and uncomfortable.

"Alright, you may begin." The teacher announced, and Ib immersed herself in work.

* * *

Garry waited outside his classroom, examining a few of the paintings on the wall as he waited. So far, his day was going 'alright'. A few other students talked to him, even gave him pointers, but it was clear that they backed off once he finished ahead of them. They probably thought he was some poor student. He sighed, the male uniform wasn't bad, but he loved his coat and even if it was a bit old, he couldn't let it go.

Glancing to the left, he noticed something familiar about one of the paintings that nearly made him choke on the oxygen he was breathing. In the painting was a puddle and a broken window that looked just like the one from last night. He coughed, shaking his head. There was no way...right?

He turned and saw Ib standing there, causing him to jump in surprise, "EEK! ...Ib? Thank god, it's only you." He sighed in relief, bracing himself against the wall.

Ib stared at him.

"Sorry, but doesn't this painting look...familiar?"

Ib looked at it, staring blankly, but then nodded, "It is. This is nearly the same scene."

"I knew it! Could this mean something though?" Garry asked, trying to link the two.

Ib didn't reply as she thought about it also.

"We should come back tonight and find out." Garry hesitantly said, "I know it's certainly not the smartest idea, but something did happen... Do you think we should leave it alone...?"

"I'm not sure." Ib replied before turning back to the painting. She could tell Garry really didn't want to, and neither did she.

They walked away and headed to the cafeteria where they met Amelia, Lumi, Luno, Dmitri, Soaru, and another girl for lunch. The new girl took one look at Ib and stared intently at her for a good fifteen minutes before suddenly halting all conversation with just a few words, "Real red-eyes?"

Ib stared at the table top, suddenly not hungry. "Yes."

Gillian nodded, crossing her arms before smiling, "Yes, this shall work! Now I just need a basket and nude coloured bras and panties.

Garry sputtered and coughed, Dmitri hitting him on the back to help. Amelia was howling with laughter, Soaru's face was two shades of red, and Lumi and Luno were talking amongst themselves. "Don't worry! Gilly's a photographer, and she loves nature and the human body!" Amelia finally got out through her laughs.

"The body is it's own language, and mixed with the ancient language of nature...Oh, it's just divine!" Gillian gushed.

"Just continue eating and ignore her, yes?" Dmitri said, sighing as he ate.

Ib didn't touch her food, the question getting to her, but couldn't stay upset when she now understood why she asked. "You alright?" Ib nodded and Garry and finished her lunch, listening to the conversation. It was quite eventful, like she'd been sitting with them for longer than just a day.

"Well, I'll see you all at dinner." Lumi said, getting up and leaving.

"Oh, that's right!" Amelia exclaimed, turning to the two, "Dinner is from six to nine. Most people's classes let out around four, but there are some classes that run a bit later. I'll see you all at dinner!"

Ib and Garry nodded, leaving the lunch room to attend classes. "See you later."  
"See you later."

The two separated,

But it seems that regardless of trying to stay away

The Trouble would come to them.

* * *

**AN:** Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it was a bit boring, but it's a transition chapter, after all. So, this chapter has introduced those OC's, but_ THEY ARE MAINLY MINOR!_ I just don't believe that Ib and Garry would only be friends with each other, I mean these characters will help with development and may be important to the plot later on, but are not really 'main characters'.

Anyway! Please tell me if this is wrong, but Zhirnyy is Russian for 'fatty'. My sister summed up Dmitri, giving me the idea, in a few few words; "That random Russian dude".

Soaru would be that 'random Japanese guy'.

Amelia is that 'typical American'.

Lumi and Luno are actually OCs from another story of mine (which has not been posted).

Gillian... She just sort of happened.

Anyway, please drop a review? This chapter WAS pretty long~

P.S. I just finished playing Ib (I watched Pewdiepie play it, so this really was exciting to play it on my own) and I had the Promise of Reunion End! YES! I only 'cheated' a little, so I'm pretty proud!

Edit: I believe I found all-or at least most-of the typos, but if anyone spots one, do tell me! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise.

Note: There are some _**REALLY MINOR OCs**_, 'cause the Ib cast is _very _small.

Pictures must not be too picturesque.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter Five

The echoes resound, humming and whispering through winds, unable to be seen. Long shadows stretch out, touching the rays carefully, longingly. Shorter shadows stay low, lurking around the rays, longing for the taste of temptation, a sip of poison. Still, they turn an eye that wished to be blind, aware of the consequence of touch. Softly they travel, their sorrows trailing and mixing into the mass. The others, lucky not to be of shadow, but near discarded, cry out in rage, pain, and fear that can't be heard. Never be heard.

Echoes whispered so softly, drawing no attention, yet one was heard loud and clear. A delicious thought spoken in words, a want, a need. A treacherous deed. For only a split second, light and shadow froze, caught off guard by such a thing. Without another word nor a sound, they flowed. Only now their thoughts were entwined. It was merely a sip, a tiny sip of poison wine.

* * *

Ib opened the cherry wood door to her 'fashion' class slowly, taking her time to peer in. Inside were worktables and around twenty or more students. Some were in groups, hunched over tables with large papers while others were either sewing or doing something of the like. The thing that stuck out most was how loud the room felt, even though the students were talking near silently. It felt like there was a slight tenseness and sense of hurry.

Ib stepped further in, lightly closing the door behind her. No one noticed her entrance. Ib wasn't sure if that was good or bad. In a way she liked the silence, sitting with Amelia and company, even if it were just for lunch, was enough to make her head hurt from the noise, but she had been noticed. Right now...It was like being at home. The heavy atmosphere, but the silence and lack of words made her feel like a scorned child in time out.

Ib located the teacher and, with her head down, made her way over. "Excuse me?" She said, coming to stand behind her. The lady turned around, looking down at Ib through her square-framed glasses, observing her a second before lightly smiling. "You must be my new student, Ib, right?"

Ib nodded, staring at the woman's black pumps shyly.

"You may address me as Ms. Noelle, or just Ms. Nel." She introduced. "Today, we're starting designs for our Autumn showcase. You've actually shown up just in time."

Ib looked up at the teacher blankly. "Oh, I should probably explain what you'll be doing-"

"Ms. Nel, Mr. Klein needs you!" A girl called from the doorway.

"Oh, I'm deeply sorry Ib, but I'll have to have another student help you." She apologized with a sigh. "Kate! Could you come here?"

A girl walked over briskly. "What is it?"

"This is Ib, she's going to be helping out. Could you explain it all too her, please?" The girl nodded, and Ms. Noelle hurried out of the room.

Ib could feel the girl's eyes on her, which resulted in Ib keeping her head down. Finally the other girl spoke, "I'm Kate Gridlings, welcome to our fashion class. Usually things aren't so quiet, but today is a deadline and beginning of a new assignment, so everyone is pretty focused." Ib noted that she had a kind voice, and so she looked up at her.

Kate had fair brown hair, long and in a cascading waterfall braid. Ib glanced at her eyes, grey with some black eyeliner, but were staring back at her, not looking away. The eye-contact wasn't a challenge, more like an invitation, a look to a fellow worker of equal value.

"You're a helper, right?" Ib nodded. "Well, helpers are a bit different than the regular students in this class. You'll be graded like everyone else on drawing for designs, but you won't be making them. Helpers are just what they sound like, they can help others with design ideas and you'll probably be used as a mannequin, but don't worry about that yet."

"Kate! I need help! This sleeve is all wrong and I can't get this stitch right!" Another girl ran over, only pausing when she noticed Ib. The girl stared at Ib, much like Gillian had, before grabbing her. "You'll be perfect!"

"Wait, Raina!" Kate called, but the girl dragging Ib over to one of the worktables didn't falter. Raina stopped by the table and picked up a garment, holding it out to Ib.

Ib just stared at it, unsure of what she should do, but thankfully Kate caught up. "Raina, you can't just grab someone like that." The other girl pouted before rolling her eyes. She turned back to Ib, "Will you please put this on?" Ib looked at Kate, the girl chuckled.

"I said you would be used as a mannequin. In reality you'll just be the model, oh Raina, don't forget to take measurements so we have them on file." Ib sighed inwardly as Raina nodded enthusiastically and led (Read: Dragged) her to a backroom where she could change.

As she put on the dress, Ib couldn't help but think that Garry may have been wrong, she wasn't enjoying this class. If anything, she was confused on how she would be graded. She would have to ask Ms. Noelle or have Kate further explain. Ib finished, leaving her uniform folded neatly on a stool as she hesitantly walked back out. The garment was a dress, a purple one that ruffled and puffed at her hips. The sleeves puffed at the shoulders, tighter around her arms before stopping in a long, narrow triangle at the base of her middle fingers. The bodice itself was open at the neck, revealing a lavender-pink coloured undershirt.

Looking up she saw the class looking at her, and so she looked back down. Raina let out a triumphant sound and pulled Ib over to a two-inch cylinder stand, instructing her to stand on it. Raina pulled out a needle and thread and set to work fixing a few things. Kate came closer, smiling, "It fits well, you look really nice Ib."

Raina snorted, "Of course she does! It's my masterpiece after all!" She looked back at her work, before commenting absently, "Hey, you have an excellent figure for this. Not too scrawny, but not thick. Too bad the bust isn't a bit bigger." The last part was mumbled haphazardly, but Ib still heard and blushed a bit. It wasn't her fault she's underdeveloped!

Kate placed a comforting hand on Ib's shoulder, "Sorry about this, but at least you've gotten the first one over."

Ib only nodded, trying to form her words correctly, "How...exactly will I be graded?"

Kate nodded in understanding, realizing her earlier explanation hadn't been thorough enough. "You'll be graded on submitting designs, helping out others as their 'mannequin', small side projects, and modeling in showcases or at the café."

Ib looked at her intently, mouth opened in surprise for a few seconds, "Modeling?"

Kate nodded, "Designs that pass are featured in showcases or at fashion shows we throw at festivals or at the café. We even do charity benefits, or auction off outfits. You'll be assigned to a group that will be debuting their design and wear it for them." Kate continued, noticing Ib's shell-shocked look, "Of course it would be cruel to just throw you onstage, so you and a few others will take some walking classes when there isn't much to do or as the shows get closer. The drama department has a few students who will be helping out to teach you, so you'll be well prepared before the show."

Although Ib blanked her face, Ib still felt a bit ill. The prospect of having to walk on a stage, in front of so many people, and that any mistake she might make would be seen by anyone. She would be on display. People would be depending on her. She might have to wear heels!

Kate squeezed her shoulder, drawing Ib's attention to her. "Ib, now this probably is nerve-wrecking and scary, but you're not alone. We'll all help, you just need to ask. If it get's too much, don't be afraid to speak up." Raina nodded, and a few students who were listening in voiced their agreement.

Ib only nodded, a faint smile briefly appearing as she looked at Kate, thanking her silently. She wasn't sure if Kate understood, but the girl smiled at her.

Once Raina finished, Kate asked Ib to try on a simple pink dress. Apparently she had a design thought of, but needed to see it on someone else. As Kate pinned and stitched, they lightly conversed. It wasn't a meaningful conversation nor was it lazy, but it passed the time well enough.

Kate placed the translucent gabardine onto the dress, pinning it onto the shoulders. Ib liked the dress, the dress didn't have sleeves, but the piece Kate just pinned on made up for it, resting against Ib's upper arm. The colours were all soft pinks and cream, matching perfectly together without looking overbearing or washed out. Ib was in complete awe at how lovely the dress was.

"Finished, thank you Ib. Now I can sew these on later." Kate commented. Ib nodded and went to carefully change out of the soft material. She gave Kate back her dress, and Ms. Noelle arrived back.

"Hello class, it appears time is nearly up." She said, walking further into the room. "For homework I want each one of you to design a costume. Remember, be creative!"

Faint whispers flowed through the empty hall, flowing and lively. They rushed back and forth, the shadows lengthening and multiplying as the sun's rays darkened, fading away, gone. Artificial lights shone down, giggling with the shadows endlessly. Unheard words flowed between the mass, moans of sorrow and the crashing of waves.

Steps echoed lightly, and the unheard noise silenced, watching for the source. A girl with brown hair walked past them, staring ahead, but as one of the mass coughed the girl paused, looking over at the wall where it came from. Everything went dead silent as the girl scrutinized the painting before continuing down the hall.

The spectacle had only happened briefly, but it was enough for them to stay quiet. They had been heard, something was off, could this be a sign? A harsh voice silenced them, making them submit. A dead silence filled the halls, this was not right. It was not yet time for _her _to be awake.

Ib paused in her walking, shivering as she glanced behind her. Nothing was there, but she felt like someone was watching her. Walking a bit faster, she made her way down the corridors, towards the cafeteria. It was nearing seven and dinner would be over at eight, Amelia had been wrong when she said nine, that was for breakfast.

A crash to her left made Ib jump and freeze. She glanced ahead to where there was another hallway to the right, the crash echoing from there. Ib slowly walked towards it, remembering the night before. She turned into the hall and saw a smashed vase lying on the floor. As she kneeled down before the vase, the water rippled from her shoes and she reached for one of the larger pieces that didn't look too sharp. Seemingly out of nowhere the shard moved, cutting the palm of her hand, a sliver of blood dripped off, hitting the water.

It was red, it was a violent shade, a terrifying colour. It stained, devoured, and consumed to form its own world. From deep in the decaying core a scream rang out, a hand protruding from the sea in a fruitless attempt for salvation.

Ib fell back, closing her eyes as she curled up. She covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out the noise, but still heard the piercing scream ringing in her ears. She attempted to calm herself, but fear was keeping her frozen. With a few deep breaths she opened her eye a bit and once she saw there was no immediate danger, she looked down, but all she saw was her own large red eyes staring back at her, and a small amount of blood.

Ib uncovered her ears and looked at her hand. Her palm was bleeding.

"Hey, are you alright?" She looked ahead and saw Garry rushing over, his own eyes widening when he saw her. "Ib, what happened?! Are you alright?" He bent down next to her, careful not to make any sudden movements as he reached for her injured hand, "Just a flesh wound."

Ib could have laughed, having heard that earlier in the day, but it wasn't funny. She looked down, shaking a bit, but was surprised when Garry awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder. It was warm. "Come on, we need to get that taken care of."

Garry helped Ib stand, leading her to the nurse silently. He knew something had happened, but knew that he should wait until she was calmer to ask what had happened. If he was honest with himself then he suspected it had something to do with what happened the night before.

The nurse took one look at Ib and set to work, joking when she asked if seeing Ib in her office would become something normal, but neither of them even humored her with a half-hearted smile. The nurse put a bandage on Ib's hand and found another cut on the back of her leg, probably from a shard that she hadn't seen when falling backwards.

Once finished, they walked to the cafeteria quietly. The silence bothered Garry, so he finally asked, "What happened?" Ib paused, staring at the wall before looking at him.

"I...saw something. I saw a girl crying for help, but I don't know who she is." Ib stated after thinking through her words.

"The person you saw... Do you remember anything about her?" Garry asked, a bit scared that what she said was true.

Ib shook her head, "No."

Garry paused before walking again, "We should get some dinner, can't think on an empty stomach."

Ib just followed him quietly to the cafeteria, through the line, and even to the table where Lumi was currently waving at them. With her was only Soaru, Amelia, and Gillian.

"Hey, guys!" Amelia greeted before taking a sip of her milkshake.

"Evening Ib, thing." Gillian greeted, pulling Ib closer to her, but Amelia quickly pulled her in between Lumi and herself. Garry just rolled his eyes at Gillian, "I'm not 'thing'."

Gillian pouted as Amelia hogged Ib, "Shut it, thing."

"I'm not a thing!"

"That's right, Gillian, he isn't yours to use." Lumi remarked, causing Amelia to spit out a stream of milkshake from laughing. Soaru moved his tray as she did, avoiding milkshake from ruining his noodles. Garry and Gillian turned red, trying to come up with a comprehensible sentence to throw at the blonde, but the girl had already turned back to her conversation with Ib and Soaru.

"Where are the others?" Garry asked, glancing around for anyone else.

"Luno went back to the dorms to work on a project and Dmitri is unwillingly helping him." Soaru calmly replied, resuming his meal.

"Who cares about that jerk anyway!" Amelia voiced, angrily biting off a large chunk of her sandwich. Gillian merely smiled as the others ignored Amelia's outburst, it was quite normal.

"Awe man! I have to head back early." Amelia suddenly said, finishing her soda. "I have to find my camera."

"But you already have it with you." Gillian said, indicating to Amelia's bag.

"No, my old one. It has some pictures on it that I need." Amelia said while standing, "I'll see ya alls laters!"

Once out of earshot, Soaru turned to the others, "A rare moment of seriousness from Amelia. The world has ended."

Lumi giggled a bit, smiling politely as Gillian rolled her eyes at the failed attempt. Garry and Ib simply observed, finished with their own meals.

"Ib, would you like to head back with me?" Lumi asked, also finished with her meal. Ib nodded, standing up with her. "Bye everyone."

"Good bye." Ib said, glancing at Garry before turning to follow Lumi.

The two girls threw out the trash and walked towards the dorm silently, listening to crickets and the wind. "Ib, did you enjoy your first day?" Ib turned and looked at Lumi, before looking forward. She thought about her day: meeting Amelia, being carried to the nurse, meeting Dmitri and Soaru, seeing Garry again, meeting Lumi and Luno and having breakfast with them all, her classes, lunch and Gillian, her last class, Kate and Raina, and what she happened in the hall.

"I believe I did." Ib finally answered, and it was true. Many things had happened, but most of it was good or even fun. Sitting with them all felt strange, but it wasn't a bad strange. Things were...good, in a way.

Lumi smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. I was worried."

"Worried?"

"Yes, you seemed a bit down at dinner, quieter than usual." Ib didn't look at the girl next to her as she wondered how Lumi had noticed when they had only met that morning. There wasn't enough time to ask since they had arrived.

"Oh, Ib." Lumi said before they parted, "If you need anything, my room is 18, and Amelia's is 21. Gillian is in room 35 on the third floor. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."

Ib nodded and bid her goodnight, walking back to her room. As she sat on her bed staring at her hand she had the urge to get up and walk, but it was getting dark. A chill made her shiver, so she changed clothes and tried to sleep. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep for the longest time.

She sat up and read the time displayed on the clock, 3:29 AM. With a groan she plopped back down in desperation to sleep, but her hands were itching. It was a familiar urge that she'd had for years. It was the urge to draw. With a tired sigh, Ib got up and took out one of her spare sketchbooks. Flipping to a random page, she grabbed one of her drawing pencils, and started to draw, not even bothering to turn on a light, instead moving the curtains to let in the moonlight, even if it only helped a little.

Ib wasn't sure how long she sat there or when she fell asleep, but when she woke up all she knew what that her limbs were stiff and that she was cold. She stood up, stretching as she moved to grab her clothes and a bag. Amelia and Lumi had informed her at lunch about the showers, and Ib decided that she needed to relax, if only a little.

A few girls giggled when Ib passed them, but she wasn't sure why. As she waited in line a girl in front of her was kind enough to let her in, "You have smudges on the left side of your face." and Ib looked down at the floor in embarrassment, remembering that she had fallen asleep while drawing. Once in the shower, Ib thoroughly scrubbed her face to rid herself of the pencil smudges. As she was getting dressed, Ib shivered from the cold, hurrying to recover some sort of warmth.

As she was walking towards the school, Ib kept shivering, feeling like she was forgetting something important. At the lunch table she found only Garry. He greeted her, but notice how she was shivering. "Do you have something?" Ib shook her head, she felt fine other than being cold. As time ticked on, it only got worse, and once her teeth started to chatter Garry stood up and convinced her to walk around to get her blood moving, which would hopefully warm her up a bit.

While walking Ib didn't feel like anything was changing, until they were by a hallway undergoing reconstruction. Ib walked closer to the tape, her body temperature improving with each step. She walked over the tape, feeling that something was off.

Garry called her name, hurrying to follow her, but Ib didn't wait for him to catch up. Her temperature was getting higher and higher, growing so hot that she could feel her blood boiling in her ears. She came to a halt at an overturned frame lying on the ground. Carefully, she picked it up, and all the heat that had been building up suddenly dropped, chills overcoming her as goosebumps rose on her arms, but nothing was there. It was an empty frame.

"Are you alright?" Garry asked worriedly, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine. This hallway is warmer, thank you." Ib replied, placing the frame back down before starting to head back towards the cafeteria.

Once there they were met with Luno holding Lumi as she hit her face in the crook of his neck, Amelia holding her hand. The others were quiet, the atmosphere wrong from the usual loud group.

Ib could tell something had happened, could feel it in the shivers that raked her body. She needn't say anything, Soaru quietly told them the news that shocked Ib.

Kate Gridlings was proclaimed missing this morning.

**AN: **Wow, this came out pretty quickly, no(Well to me since I finished it right after the last chapter)? So, the plot has furthered even more! Finally, something exciting happened! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

I noticed that last chapter had a few typos so when this chapter is uploaded, I'll also be updating that one. Hopefully I didn't miss anything this chapter, but please point them out if you see any!

Please drop a review! I miss all of you :'(


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise. I also once got points taken off for something, and teacher says it's because I have to cite it. So, I'm like, "But I wrote it." He gave me a flabbergasted look, but then got the drift. So, I own my words!

Note: There are some _**REALLY MINOR OCs**_, 'cause the Ib cast is _very _small.

* * *

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

-Plato

Chapter Six

Cold, frozen, cracks... There were cracks in the foundation of a once perfect structure. It stood tall and brooding, but there. It had once been a beacon, a light in a storm, but not today. The storms had been too much, the pressure far too great. The water below the citadel rose like a tidal wave, but as it died away, the lurid horrors remain for another day. Worn and jaded, cast astray, the citadel could not anticipate the last attack that broke it in half. The clouds would stay another day, casting shame upon the cracks.

The onlookers watched with horror and restraint. Even the toughest facade could be crushed, crumbled, and broken if pushed enough. The only words remaining were the sadness the act entailed. The hackneyed words of those unaffected, of those who were only onlookers, not the eyes to the storm.

Ib couldn't think. All she saw was through someone else's eyes, not her own. She didn't watch as Lumi fought tears, didn't see Luno hug his sister, and didn't want to hear what she just had. There had to be some mistake. Kate, the girl who had helped her such a great deal just the day before, could not have gone missing in that short amount of time. It had to be a fluke, a mistake! Something like this just couldn't happen, right?

Not sure what she should do, Ib remained standing. What should one do in such a situation? A simple "are you okay?" seemed ugly and useless when it was obvious that things were anything but _ok_. Ib hadn't known Kate long, but the girl was someone that had been helpful, friendly, and a lot like a potential friend, if it could be called that.

An unfamiliar girl hesitantly approached the table, her hands fiddling with her tie. "Umm...E-excuse me." Ib turned to her. The others also slightly turned, but did not cease their own small conversations in softer tones. The girl looked at Ib, more importantly her eyes which caused her own to widen and snap back to the ground. _A normal reaction,_ Ib thought to herself almost sadly, but didn't have the time for self-pity. It was a tiring feeling anyway.

"Well, umm, I was asked to i-inform e-everyone that..that..." She continued stumbling before Soaru sighed, "You were told to tell all the students you could about going to the office, correct?

The girl blushed, but nodded. "Umm...Well, yes...So, please report there." She turned and left in a hurry, not looking back as she left the cafeteria. Soaru sighed, mumbling to himself before standing, "No doubt the guidance counselor is checking in on everyone. You should go, Lumi." The fair blonde stiffened, her unsettling gaze meeting the Japanese boy's in a silent protest. The other only sighed, "Lumi, don't start this again."

The girl untangled herself from her brother and calmly stepped away from Amelia, pointedly not looking at them all. "I'm not starting anything, Sato." Her tone was icy and clipped. Ib glanced at Amelia, the girl looked at her and shrugged, indicating that they shouldn't get involved. "Lumi..." Soaru started, but Luno cast him a dark look. "If my sister doesn't want to visit your stupid shrink then she doesn't have to." "It's required that all students visit in times like these. I know she doesn't want to, but school policy-" "I'm leaving." Lumi stated as she picked up her tray. Ib silently watched the other girl walk away, leaving the cafeteria and an exasperated Japanese teen behind. Once out of earshot, Soaru sunk into his chair with his head in his hands, sighing. Amelia patted him on the back, "You knew it was going to happen before you said it."

"I know, but you would think she would have gotten over the fear already." Soaru replied before looking around the table, "Did I cross the line?"

Luno merely sighed while Dmitri looked at his conflicted friend. "You scooted around the main problem, but you knew how she was going to react. You should have left it alone."

Ib and Garry merely watched, unsure as to what just happened, but knew that they shouldn't ask. Whatever had happened Ib knew that she shouldn't pry into the affair, it seemed personal and like the elephant in the room. In a way, it felt like yesterdays closeness was smoke and mirrors, finally showing that there was a gap between herself and the group. She did not know yet if this gap could be crossed.

And that's what scared her.

* * *

_Quiet. Be silent._ It was whispered smoothly along the corridors, findings its way into the nooks and crannies. All that heard ceased their movements, waiting for what was to happen next. The taste of temptation still lingered, the knowledge of what had happened making them anticipate the next show. The next taste.

_Watch. Watch. _It whispered, and so they did, looking with hollow eyes that had long sunk and gone blind. The happening was enough to draw the attention, but what of the sight? The theatrics were grand, but the miraculous light of vision was only a rumour. Silently, they wished to do more than watch the display. Yes, they would take an active part. They too would no longer be the backdrop of a play gone wrong. They would become the shining stars, the prima ballerina, the star of the show. Yet all they were missing was the script, one made up by the puppeteer. Yet, how do you know who is pulling the strings when the strings are invisible to the eye?

Simple.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

You don't.

* * *

Ib stared at her drawing silently, unsure of what she was even doing or what she had been trying to draw. It was strange, she normally didn't black out like that. Zone, yes, but black out and not remember anything? Never. She just got a little too focused at times, but this was different. It was comparable to coming out of a nap and looking at the clock only to find that it's 12, only you can't remember which twelve it is, morning or noon? Does it even matter? You want to turn over and go back to sleep, but the panic of not knowing keeps you up. How long has it been? Hours? Days? Mere minutes?

Ib rubbed her eyes as she tried to process what she had been trying to draw. A memory of her teacher saying something about a showcase slowly crawled back. They were supposed to be starting on a piece that may be entered into the next showcase. That brought back another memory of just the other day, _"Designs that pass are featured in showcases or at fashion shows we throw at festivals or at the cafe. We even do charity benefits, or auction off outfits. You'll be assigned to a group that will be debuting their design and wear it for them." _ But who had told her? An image appeared in her mind, but it became foggy and warped, ebbing away from her grasp.

Within a matter of seconds Ib lost the image altogether and a dull ache in the back of her head followed with a vengeance. She winced, unsure of herself but something in the pit of her stomach was churning, which usually meant that something was wrong or her mother was attempting to cook eggs. Don't judge, her mother could bake cookies and casseroles, but give her eggs and you'll regret the fact that you have a stomach.

The teacher called for everyone's attention and dismissed them, calling out reminders about this and that as the students packed up. Ib slowly stood and packed her things, feeling dizzy and unsure as she made her way to lunch. The morning had really flown by.

"Hey, IB!" Amelia called, waving the girl over to the table excitedly. Ib sluggishly made her way over and sat down beside the hyper girl. "You'll never guess what happened earlier!" And with that Ib stopped paying attention. She really hadn't meant to, but something else was calling her attention, though she wasn't sure exactly what. It was like a whisper, a soft one that belonged to a sickly spirit that would probably turn out to be evil. Ib inwardly sighed at her own imagination. She should have stopped watching ghost movies with her mother sooner. They were corrupting her brain.

"-Are you listening? Hello?" Ib blinked at the hand in her face and turned to the culprit sheepishly, "Yes. No...I'm sorry." Amelia only shrugged it off, "You look wiped out! Did a teacher yell at you too?"

"No, Zhirnyy, it's just you. Don't assume that everyone shares your stupidity." Dmitri teased, sitting opposite of them. Amelia glared over at him, huffing before she shoved her sandwich into her mouth, muttering a few things here and there. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to chew with your mouth closed?" At that Amelia paused, staring down at the food in her hand, her jaw going slack. It was only for a second, but Ib knew she saw something flash across Amelia's face, but it happened too fast for her to properly put a name to it.

Dmitri, realizing he had said something wrong was about to apologize, but Amelia snapped back and threw the rest of her sandwich at him, making sure to spit on it first. She laughed obnoxiously when it hit him in the face, nearly tipping her chair backwards. Dmitri sputtered, whipping the offending food off his forehead.

As the two bickered Ib could feel something was wrong. There was a small pain in her stomach, which could be comparable to a small hole. It was an all over uncomfortable feeling, a sick feeling, and the dull aching of her head was not helping. Something was missing here, something she was forgetting, but what was it? Why did it hurt so much to think? What was she forgetting...Should she even want to remember? The others seemed fine, and wouldn't they notify her if something was wrong?

They were strangers. Yet, they had adopted her just the other day. Should she be so dependant on them? From this morning it's obvious that she barely knew them, but wasn't that normal? Being friends meant that you don't know a lot about each other at first, right? What were friends really? Why are people friends? Ib understood simple bonds, such as family bonds and professional ones, but why did friendship bonds exist? There were acquaintances, table friends, friends, best friends, not-friends-but-we'll-still-hang-with-you-friends, and there were probably more, but what was the point? How does one tell an acquaintance from a potential friend?

Ib shuddered. _Potential friend_. Why was that familiar? Who had she thought that about? An image swam shallowly into the front of her eyes, but like earlier it faded before she could see it clearly, falling back into the dark sea, hiding itself far back into her mind's crannies. Unknowing, but feeling that she should was sickening and worrisome. Ib wasn't one to easily forget something that felt this important, but on the other hand she just wanted to curl into a ball and let it go. Whatever it was.

Ib blinked, coming out of her internal thoughts by a hand on her forehead. She glanced up, finding that this hand belonged to a lavender haired boy with a worried pair of eyes. It took a few more seconds for her to realize that those eyes were directed at her. It was only then that she realized that during her inward monologue of rhetorical questions that her head had ended up in her hands, her fingers gripping strands of her hair. Her ears picked up that the earlier bickering was gone, and Luno and Soaru had appeared at the table at some point. Garry retracted his hand with a frown, "You're burning up."

Amelia jumped up, "We should take her to the infirmary!"

Garry only locked eyes with Ib, "I'll take her."

Amelia was about to protest when the others threw her a pointed look. "Fine, but I better not hear that you guys were-" Before she could finish that thought Dmitri threw some fries at her. The effect was still the same, Garry blushed while Ib was having trouble connecting the dots. So, while in a hurry to avoid any further comments Garry carefully helped Ib to her feet and fast walked away.

Once in the hall Garry slowed his pace, staying close to Ib in case she fainted or needed assistance. Of course when he asked Ib had said she didn't need help, but it didn't take a psychologist to realize that she was exhausted. Garry cast her a worried glance. That morning she had been shocked, but fine altogether. Well, that had been a few hours ago, and illness can suddenly strike at any time, but Garry just had a feeling that Ib wasn't the type to suddenly become ill.

He rubbed the back of his head, wondering why he thought that. He had only met the brunette about three days ago and already he felt like he'd known her longer. He gently touched his other pocket, feeling the item inside. It was one thing to take guesses, but another thing entirely to feel like you knew a person. It was a strange feeling, one he never recalled having, not even with his parents or siblings. He inwardly sighed, remembering _that_ conversation from yesterday. Talking with his eldest sister could get a little intimidating since she usually yelled a lot. He shook his head, trying not to dwell on that or else he would start to think about everything else, and he really didn't want to.

Due to not paying attention he walked straight into Ib when she paused-when had she gotten in front of him anyway?-resulting in a collision. He was about to retort when he blanked. Ib was nearly bent over, breathing heavily while holding her head, her hands grasping her shirt where her chest was. "Ib." He reached for her shoulder, only for his hand to grasp air.

"Garry. What is it?" Ib asked from up ahead, turning back slightly to look at him in confusion. Garry looked back at his hand in bewilderment. Nothing was there. "Nothing. Sorry, thought I saw something."

They resumed walking, but Garry was cautious. The other day when he had recommended that they come back and look he had but hadn't meant it. On one hand the painting and the things that happened that night couldn't be coincidence, and, if he was being honest, interesting, strange and, in a way, scary. Yet on the other hand as much as it was scary it was _scary_. Not that scary movie thriller type, but the real deal, the true stories that scar, and that most don't live through. It was the scary that plagued nightmares. It was _horrifying._ He didn't want to involve himself in that type of thing. He had seen Ib disappear and reappear from a puddle! If that didn't scare someone, then something was wrong with that person! This situation wasn't something to take lightly, it wasn't something to just run head first into. Maybe Ib had noticed, Garry wouldn't be surprised if she had, that he had mixed feelings. That something like this... wasn't normal.

Yet there was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong and, though he would more than likely be reluctant, it would all lead back to then. There was a reason that Ib and him saw what they did. Garry believed in some coincidences, but not most. This was another exception. Something was wrong, he was missing something important. Something vital.

"Welcome back! My, I hope this really isn't becoming routine." The nurse, Charlotte, stated upon their entry. "What seems to be the problem?"

Garry looked at Ib who was looking at him, and he sighed inwardly before beginning to explain Ib's symptoms. Once finished Ib added a few things while throwing him a thankful look. He smiled back, showing her he wasn't bothered in the slightest by talking for her this once. She had, in a way, saved his butt back on the first day when that older lady had freaked him out.

The nurse went about taking Ib's temperature, taking her blood pressure, and a few other things while speaking with her. Ib replied in one syllable answers. The nurse finally left her alone, thinking for a moment before concluding her diagnosis. "Just a small bug, probably from stress and the new environment. You'll be fine by tomorrow, no doubt. I'm afraid I can't send you back to the dorms today for obvious reasons, so you'll have to rest here. You can head back at six."

The two nodded, Ib was unsure of the 'obvious' reasons, but went along with it anyway. "Someone should go with you though, just in case." "I'll do it." The two females looked over at Garry. "You don't have to." Ib replied softly, not wanting to be any more of a bother, but Garry digressed, promising to be back at six. There was no more resistance since he left, having to attend his classes that would start soon.

Ib rested on one of the cots, not bothering to draw the sterile sheets over her body. The room was warm and there was a slight breeze coming through the window that was both cold and warm at the same time. She faintly sighed, closing her eyes only to reopen them a few seconds later. Everytime she closed her eyes she saw the blurry image, only for it to disappear as she opened her eyes. No matter how much she tried to focus, Ib couldn't clear the image, couldn't scrape away the rust and stop it from slipping away.

As her eyes slowly became heavy and she was nearing that abyss known as sleep, she faintly saw, in the corner of the room,a shadowed figure dressed in red.

_O..e da.._

_I ...ell ...eep_

_a... ...ever ...ke ..._

_O..e da.._

_I ...ell ...eep_

_a... ...ever ...ke ..._

_O..e da.._

_I ...ell ...eep_

_a... ...ever ...ke ..._

_The words repeated and repeated, becoming raspier and raspier each time. _

"_I'm Ka..e Gr..dl...gs, welcome to our fashion class."_

"_I'm Ka...Gr..dl..., welcome to our fashion class."_

"_I'm ..., welcome to our fashion class."_

_It grew fainter and softer, disappearing, but as it neared the voice became desperate to be heard. _

"_I'm ..., welcome to our fashion class!"_

_It still was barely heard no matter how much it was screamed, the voice sobbing and crying. A ring flashed into view briefly before disappearing. What felt like minutes later another image appeared. A hand with the same ring that was holding thread and a needle, moving to pin and tuck material. Slowly the image moved up to reveal a girl with light, long brown hair and grey eyes. She smiled slowly, still moving the needle methodically, but as the image stilled to a stop it suddenly flashed, and the girls flawless face was covered in blood. _

_Her once grey eyes were empty, pools of blood flowing down her rose tinted cheeks that had paled, looking nearly blue. Her rose coloured lips tinted vermillion, her teeth stained as she flashed them, letting out a scream. Her hands were bloody, her fingernails torn off, but something in her hands glinted. It was a needle. As she silently screamed the needle was raised, pulled back, and launched forwards on a clear path to the onlookers own eyes. As it neared, the onlooker screamed, watching as the needle came right for her._

Ib awoke with a start, a scream caught in her throat. She latched onto anything that she could find safety in, even if it were her own knees, but her knees shouldn't be this warm. As she looked up to find the heat source she was currently hugging she locked eyes with Garry who was staring back at her in surprise. Ib instantly let go and looked down, still in her own took a few deep breaths as Garry rubbed her back for her. It was silent, both feeling a bit awkward. Finally Ib calmed herself, feeling abashed and ashamed that she had acted like a baby, latching onto the first heat source she could find. It was unbecoming of her, and as a child there were only a small handful of times she had done anything like that.

"Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?" She looked up at his worried tone. After a slight hesitation she nodded. "I see...You poor thing. I can't say I'm surprised...Being exposed to such frightful sights and Kate suddenly disappearing, you know?" Ib nodded, feeling better. Garry didn't know the half of it, but even if he couldn't see her dreams, he had seen what had happened a few days ago. It felt reassuring..."What did you just say?" Garry blinked. "About the frightful sights?" "No. The thing after." "The 'you know'?" "No. Before it. You said someone's name." Ib blinked, blurry images swimming around her head. "No I didn't...Didn't I?" Ib just stared at him. "Something's wrong."

Ib stood, "Nurse." The woman appeared a few seconds later looking weary and tired. "What did you mean earlier by "obvious reasons"?" The woman looked at her quizzically, "Why, I can't remember if I did or not. Didn't your stomach hurt too much for you to walk back on your own?"

Ib looked at Garry, his eyes narrowed in questioning. Ib turned back to the nurse, "Thank you." Then she left, a sudden urge pulling her towards the door. She heard the nurse and Garry call out to her, but she didn't stop, couldn't stop. Her legs were walking on their own accord and seemed to be leading her, hopefully, to the answer. While walking a small memory came back to her. She had had pencil smudges on her this morning, which meant she had been drawing at some point during the night, which wasn't usually odd, though spaced out, but her legs seemed to think otherwise. Something was leading her to the dorms, something was telling her that the answer, no matter good or bad, was there. It was a strange feeling, one that terrified her but enthralled her at the same time. It must be how a detective felt when nearing the verdict of the case, that sink or swim moment that decides all, the anticipation, the adrenaline.

It was there in her own dorm room that her feet slowed, allowing her to chose the course they would take. As she focused Ib left the door open, not remembering to close it as she peered around the room. Her instincts were screaming for her to find the odd thing out. What, in her room, was not in its proper place, what didn't belong. Ib searched, looking at her table and chair, on her bed, in the closet, and through her bag, but nothing stuck out, but then she looked at the curtain which was awry just a bit. It was perfect for letting moonlight in.

Ib moved over to the window to fix the curtain when her foot came into contact with an object that should not be on the floor. She carefully bent down on her knees and picked it up, her eyes widening as she looked at the drawing. It was decorated in thick, black shading, but in the center was a smaller figure, giving the picture a sense of distance, was a girl being heavily obscured by the shading, but more importantly was the ring that was larger and in front, giving off the image that it had fallen from the girl's hand while she was being dragged off into the dark.

As she continued to stare Ib felt a shooting pain in the back of her head. It was white hot and long, broadcasting images of a girl with light, long brown hair was was in a cascading waterfall braid, grey eyes that looked at her as an equal, and a ring on her finger.

"_You're a helper, right? Well, helpers are a bit different than the regular students in this class. You'll be graded like everyone else on drawing for designs, but you won't be making them. Helpers are just what they sound like, they can help others with design ideas and you'll probably be used as a mannequin, but don't worry about that yet."_

"_Raina, you can't just grab someone like that."_

"_It fits quite well, you look really nice Ib." _

"_Sorry about this, but at least you've gotten the first one over with."_

"_You'll be graded on submitting designs, helping out others as their 'mannequin', small side projects, and modeling in showcases or at the cafe."_

"_Designs that pass are featured in showcases or at fashion shows we throw at festivals or at the cafe. We even do charity benefits, or auction off outfits. You'll be assigned to a group that will be debuting their design and wear it for course it would be cruel to just throw you onstage, so you and a few others will take some walking classes when there isn't much to do or as the shows get closer. The drama department has a few students who will be helping out to teach you, so you'll be well prepared before the show."_

"Ib, right now this probably is nerve-wrecking and scary, but you won't be alone. We'll all help, you just need to ask. If it get's too much, don't be afraid to speak up."

"I'm _Kate Gridlings_, welcome to our fashion class."

When Garry finally caught up with the girl she was sitting on the floor in her room, her back to him. "Ib." He hesitantly called out as he approached her. She moved just a fraction, indicating that she knew he was there. "Her name is Kate."

"Who?"

"The girl who's missing. Her name is Kate Gridlings. She was proclaimed missing this morning."

Garry gave her a quizzical look until he slowly started to remember. This morning everyone had been upset because of someone named Kate going missing, she was a girl in one of Ib's classes. "I think...I remember." He froze, trying to process just why he had forgotten. "This doesn't make sense! Why had I forgotten? No one else had said anything... Why...What is going on?"

Ib stood up. "I'm going back."

Garry looked at her. "You don't mean- Ib, those two may not even be connected!"

"Then explain it to me. This morning everyone was solemn at the news, but now it's back to normal like nothing happened. The time frame isn't right. Even the nurse couldn't remember. Somethings wrong. I..I don't draw like this normally and why Kate? Something is wrong."

Garry hesitated, thinking it over before nodding. "You're right that something is wrong, and this may or may not be connected to it, but we can at the very least check it out...Just in case."

"You don't have to come."

"And leave you all alone? No way! You could get hurt!"

Ib nodded, "Then we're going." Garry nodded. "We're going."

* * *

**AN: **Does anyone else feel that there wasn't enough initiative for Ib to decide it had something to do with the school? Yeah, not that I'm looking through it does seem that way, BUT I have a reason for this. Explanation: Chapter 2, the ending of chapter 5, and the fact that these things even are happening. They're really just taking a shot in the dark, because for all they know she really is missing because she ran off with her boyfriend.

Good news! Or not...Mary may be FINALLY making her debut next chapter~ Are you all excited? I know I am! Okay, so here's a warning, I like Mary as a character. WAIT! I didn't like the psycho part of her that tried to kill Garry, but in all, I think she was a decent character. Her story is pretty tragic and everything, but what I liked most was that she looked innocent. Too often people look for the obvious signs that people are 'weird' or 'insane' based on things like age, scars, and what they wear. Mary came off as a cute, sometimes annoying, little girl who seemed innocent, but her psych was mentally unstable. Oh~ just that character development!

_-Ahem-_

So does anyone else have a love-hate relationship for chapter five? I was rereading it and just didn't like most of it. I mean, of course there are chapters you don't care for, but maybe it's because it feels a little rushed? Oh, which reminds me! Ib wasn't good friends with Kate, but she did like her in that she was treated as an equal, so respect? Yup! Ib respected her!

Okay, long Author's note in loooong, but I do want to inform you all that this won't be a day-to-day fic. I will jump around, though only by a few days or so. Another thing is that I've decided to throw in a few twists, and _I've given many subtle hints so far, so can you guess any?_

_**QUESTION**_! Have any of you guys heard of Katy Towell? No? LOOK HER UP ON YOUTUBE! She's a professional writer and most of her shorts are really interesting. One of her videos is even being used here:

O..e da..

I ...ell ...eep

a... ...ever ...ke ...

It's actually in one, but it says the words. Dudes, I'm giving you spoilers. GO MAKE ME PROUD AND LOOK IT UP!

**_Have any of you noticed that the quotes at the top do mean something?_**

Drop a review, yes?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise. I also once got points taken off for something, and teacher says it's because I have to cite it. So, I'm like, "But I wrote it." He gave me a flabbergasted look, but then got the drift. So, I own my words!

Note: There are some _**OCs**_, 'cause the Ib cast is _very _small.

* * *

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

-Aristotle

Chapter 7

Small giggles resounded through the air in lofty play, gliding and swirling amongst the nonexistent breeze that wafted through the halls. Small shadows took to their hiding spots amongst the light fixtures, slowly ebbing their way out, leaking onto the pristine, shiny floor that never dulled. The tiny pitter patter of footsteps is what kept most back, for if you tread in the wake of temptation there is no more hope for survival. It's consumes all in it's aftermath, sparing none a lingering hope or wishful prayer.

Honestly. They are all mad here. There is no escaping from the puppeteer; not even scissors can cut the strings. All will fall into the play soon, but tonight it has fully begun. Yes, audience, it's time for act one. Here's a warning now-Tread carefully on solid ground. Legs do not walk quite so well when the earth is hollow, not even when the water is shallow. Dive deep into the unknown abyss, but don't worry now, there are always stranger things to behold.

* * *

All was silent in the hallways. The few straggling students had long since left once the clock neared eight; the time that even the cafeteria closed for, curfew. It was a strict rule that no one should wander the building after seven, only stay in the cafeteria or go back to the dorms. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that the halls were quiet or that they were empty. Yet, these halls were not void of life in the slightest, even if it was only fabricated. Yes, the human mind creates palpable, tangible images that trick their host, but are these spectators lurking around the eye's farthest corners really only a concoction of delusions?

Ib was not sure herself, but as she waited for the eight o'clock bell to chime the images of all the strange happenings reverberated endlessly in her head. However, this only furthered her confidence in that whatever was taking place had to be linked to the first time she and Garry arrived. Ib stared at her palm, which had a band-aid on it from the cut she got the other day. It was only now that she realized that the hand she had seen when the glass cut her was most likely Kate's. The girl was proclaimed missing less than twenty-four hours after Ib saw it after all.

Idly she sat in the broom closet for another three minutes until the clock rang out, the sound echoing through the building. Ib slowly opened the door a crack and checked to make sure all was clear before fully leaving the small, cleaner smelling closet behind. Garry and her had decided to meet up by the entrance to the building, a safe place if they were caught by any of the staff. Besides, they both knew where it was. Of course, the main challenge was going to be getting there since that one older lady had found them when they first arrived. In all honesty, she could be on duty at night or making rounds every so and so. Even if she was patrolling she wouldn't have to spot Ib since her loud, thunderous steps would give the girl away. Though, this was not really her fault as the ground was marble.

Ib was nearing the entrance rather smoothly when a cough caught her attention. She hesitated before turning to the left and following the erratic hacking of the lungs only for it to stop right as she laid eyes on a painting. Ironically, the plaque underneath named the art to be "_The Coughing Man._" Ib stood there for a few moments longer, waiting for the man to start coughing again, but it was a vain wait. After some time she finally decided to head back in the direction of the meeting area. Nothing significant happened during that walk and she found that she had arrived before Garry had.

While waiting besides a plant Ib closed her eyes, trying to relax. It was her decision to come and she wouldn't chicken out no matter what. She heard footsteps coming towards her and ducked down so that the plant camouflaged her from sight. She peered through some of the leaves, watching to see who it was that was coming; it was only Garry. Ib moved out of her hiding spot, nearly giving Garry a heart attack from the surprise. "Well, I'm not too sure on what to do now that we're here."

Ib stood there. She had forgotten about that part.

"I guess we could take a look around or something." Garry supplied and Ib nodded in agreement, "Now where to start? We should stay clear of the office for now incase that lady is here still. Hey, why don't we check on that one painting with the puddle and hands?"

With a destination in mind they set off, taking detours to avoid any areas near the office. When they finally came across the painting nothing happened, not one thing was out of place. Garry sighed as he gave up on staring the painting down. From the looks of it Ib wasn't doing much better. The two stood before the painting, thinking long and hard on why nothing was happening and if they were simply doing something wrong.

After that failure they ended up wandering about for a time, waiting to hear or see something unnatural. Still, nothing showed itself. "Maybe we just came at the wrong time." Garry suggested, moving to look at his watch. He froze for a few seconds, staring at it. Ib moved to glance at it too, and though they had been wandering the school for nearly forty minutes his watch still read 8 O'clock. Well, at least they knew _something _was going on.

"Maybe we just can't see them," Ib stated. Garry looked over at her curiously, "You mean they're hiding?"

"Not exactly, but it could be that they can't interact. For the last two days they could have been visual to us because they had the energy...Maybe even the means."

"Wait, do you mean that whatever these things are only appeared to us by mistake? When you put it like that it almost sounds like they were after Kate." Garry theorized, trying to wrap his mind fully around it all, "And if they're too weak then maybe we have to cross over to their plane."

"It's only a theory." Ib reminded him. "Hey, Ib, this sounds like a bad ghost movie." Garry commented. The guy was pretty sure that they probably weren't dealing with something that would end in an exorcism or demon possession...Hopefully.

They ceased walking as they came to the hallway that was closed off for construction. Ib paused, staring down the dim hallway before turning towards it and walking over the tape. Garry walked next to her, remarking on how Ib had come here earlier the day before. They passed by the canvas on the ground, only pausing to confirm that it was still blank. As they descended down the long hall both Garry and Ib noticed that the lights were no longer dim. Instead, they were nearly absent altogether and they had passed the last window some time ago. Now when they peered down the hall they saw only fluid, inky shadows weaving through the domain silently.

"Does this hall ever end?" Garry chirped nervously, casting a glance behind him. Ib did not pause, but after a few seconds she couldn't hear Garry's footsteps anymore. She looked behind her, but no one was there or even in sight. When she looked forwards the chasm had consumed her sight and the world with it. Walking was comparable to floating for she could no longer tell if gravity was present. Each step could be her last as she wouldn't be able to see anything that may be in her way. Afraid of being lost like this Ib walked in, what she believed to be, a straight line for a very long time. Inwardly she wanted to cry out for Garry, hopeful that he would respond and find that one of them had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Ib quickened her pace more, feeling something cold moving across her feet and disappearing. It felt like mice were scurrying around, only in this case they would be dead and wet. Something moved through her hair and her arm went up to swat it away, only to hit something much too large and extremely cold. A feeling of dread sprung up in her chest and she recognized that it was those hands. They blended in with the surrounding, making them unrecognizable to her. Ib began to run, swatting the groping hands away from her, but that did not stop them from reaching out to her. Their attempts were nearly cries of anguish, mischief, and loneliness. They pulled at her hair, her limbs, and tried to make her yield so that she would never leave them, never escape from them again.

And soon, much like Alice who fell down the rabbit hole, the ground that once resided beneath her feet was gone, replaced with absolutely nothing. It nearly hurt, the feeling of her stomach plummeting and then feeling too light, as if it were not existent. It was nauseous inducing and horrifying. Ib could feel her limbs try to branch out for some form of stable ground, for something to hold on to, but the wish evaded her, mocking her desperation. Still, she panicked and searched for something to grab on to. Ib was not going to die here...wherever here was. She was going to live to see the end of this. She made a promise to herself before she was accepted to St. Rose, a wish that she would have to pray for, work at, and learn to do. She would learn to speak up and create friendships with others. And now while she was falling, Ib added on to this promise; she would not die in some school that she had only attended for two days and she was going to endure till the end of the year.

Still tense, but feeling just a speck better Ib could faintly see rays of light coming from behind her. She turned to look at the source and found that the light was coming from something below her. Without hesitation the chasm stopped dragging her down, instead allowing her to descend softly, her feet landing on something akin to a floor. Looking up she slowly approached the glowing object. It did not dim, but Ib's eyes could now clearly see that the glow was emanating from a large rose. The beautiful flower was guarded by a thick thorny stem and the vermillion petals were nearly bigger than Ib's own head. It was a breathtaking sight and Ib wanted nothing more than to have her sketchbook so that she could draw it, to imprint the sight into her mind even if only through a medium that would never be able to portray how deadly the rose was.

Consequently, Ib had been so enraptured that she had not noticed that she had reached out to touch the rose, and the thorns bit at her fingers, drawing small specks of blood that dripped only once and this single drop seemingly disappeared, swallowed by the thorns. Right before her own eyes the flower began to move, growing to tower over her before its thorns surged to take root, ripping the ground apart as if it were nothing more than flimsy paper. Ib fell forward as a root popped out of the ground underneath her. Her hands came into contact with the thorns, but even though she wanted to move away the thorns were better than being skewered by rapid roots.

Ib watched the scene before her in silent amazement, gasping in surprise when the stem began to grow, bringing her along with it. She held on tightly as it kept ascending for an unknown period of time, but that time felt much too short for soon it stopped and when Ib looked up the petals were now growing. As they grew larger the stem began to start yellowing until finally it collapsed altogether. The strangest thing happened right after that. Instead of falling back down, Ib began to fall...up.

The red petals fluttered around her, blinding her view from almost anything else. They swarmed around in a flurry as they grew darker, but then they encased Ib within their folds. It was almost comforting, like a safe cocoon. It was warm too, a gentle fire with the potential to magnify its production of heat into that of raging chaos. These feelings resulted in Ib being nearly asleep, comparable to a caterpillar's long sleep inside its life altering temporary home. But as her eyelids began to shut on their own accord Ib swore that the petals began to shine and glow.

* * *

All of a sudden Ib awoke with a start, breathing uneasily from whatever it was she had awoken from. She looked around; finding only the hallway she had started off on, but the difference was that there was a door in front of her. Ib was at the end of the hallway! Once on her feet she grasped the old knob and stared at the door for a moment, noting how there was something strange about it, before opening it cautiously. From the looks of it the room was just a link between other passages on that side of the building, but while walking through the archway into another room Ib noticed a door slightly awry.

She opened the door, but the room was pitch black. When she took a very small step inside the room to find the light switch her foot was submerged in water. While looking down at her wet shoe, Ib saw something swimming around in the navy blue water. However, before she could attempt to turn back she was pulled under.

It's beautiful; water, yet so dangerous. All the oceans in the world and seas are beautiful with ranging colours of blue and strange, dark fish that could only be imagined or that lived in the deepest reaches of oceans could be seen swimming around in such dark waters. The strangest part was that Ib could have sworn that this wasn't the first time she had seen some of these wondrous creatures, it was almost like an insistent memory just at the back of her mind.

Ib looked out through the water, knowing that there had to be an exit somewhere. She swam towards the surface for air, but she was not able to reach it. As the seconds passed Ib was sinking, and the surrounding water was growing a darker shade as if it were an abyss inside the sea. Ib was now sinking to the deepest reaches of this body of water and just as she could no longer hold her breath she was flung out into something chillingly cold. She breathed in for several minutes after hitting the floor before sitting up and looking back at where she just came from, almost gasping as a large creature's eye was staring at her from the other side of the water. The whole body of water she was just in looked like an aquarium only there was no glass, the water just stayed in that shape.

Ib stood up and looked opposite the aquarium. She was in a regular room, with the only light source being a blue hue from the aquarium. There was a door straight ahead and Ib decided to go on ahead, hoping that she would meet up with Garry if he had already made it this far. When Ib walked out of the door she was flabbergasted to see that nearly everything looked almost identical to where she had been before her deep sea adventure. The only differences was the artwork on the walls and that the walls and floors did not need major renovations. In fact the floor had a rollout like carpet look and the wood bordering the carpet was rich in colour and even sturdy.

A shiver coursed its way up Ib's spine, prompting her to turn to look down all three corridors. She stood at the intersection of the three passages, unsure of which way she should go. A small part of her wanted to go back into the other room and try to find a way back. She dismissed this thought right away, remembering that this was her idea so she couldn't back down. Ib carefully studied each passage, carefully trying to make a decision. In the end, Ib decided on going left.

As she neared the end of the hallway Ib could see a small table in the distance. Faintly Ib could make out a vase that oddly looked like the one she had seen the day prior, only that one had been smashed into pieces. Ib stared at the vase, picking it up and swirling the water inside of it. Carefully, she set it back down on the desk and turned to leave it when her eye caught a passageway on her right which hadn't been there before.

Cautiously Ib moved through the darkened doorway, unsure if it was safe to venture in or not. Her fears were quelled when she spotted something glowing on the floor; a red rose. Placing one foot in front of the other Ib made her way towards the flower. She bent down and faintly touched it, her hand hesitantly ghosting the petals. Taking a deep breath, Ib gingerly picked up the rose. She twirled it between her thumb and index finger, analyzing the flower. The thorns were nearly dull stubs and didn't hurt to touch, the petals were a ripe crimson, and there were fifteen petals in total.

Something black moving across Ib's shoes caused her to slowly stare ahead at a large painting of a woman wearing a white turtleneck. Her hair was a graying black and strands of this hair were flowing from the painting. Ib gasped in terror, taking a step back, but the strands tripped her, causing her to fall on her butt. The girl in the painting slowly opened her slitted eyes, staring at Ib as a wicked grin etched its way across her face.

**When **the **rose **rots**, so** will **you **rot **away.**

Ib's hand came into contact with something cold behind her. Her head swiveled to look at what it was, but was relieved to find that it was only a small blue painted metal key. When Ib looked back at the painting the woman was gone. Fearfully she looked around the room for the woman, just in case. Ib quickly stood, backing up towards the door, never keeping her eyes in one spot for more than a few seconds. Once in the doorway Ib turned around, relieved to see the desk and vase just the way she left it.

Suddenly, a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Black hairy tendrils cascaded over Ib's shoulder and she could faintly make out another hand coming closer to her face.

You **and the **rose **are **unified. **Know **the **value **of **your **own **life**.

Ib shivered at the words, but stayed perfectly still and scrunched her eyes closed. The feeling of hair on her skin suddenly disappeared as did the feeling of hands on her. Ib opened her eyes and turned slowly around. The dark room and even the archway were no longer there, as if it all was a nightmare she had just awoken from. However, Ib knew this was no nightmare. The rose and key in her hand was proof enough that it hadn't been an illusion.

'Know the value of your own life.' Ib didn't really understand what that meant, but something inside of her was telling her that she should keep her rose safe from harm. Ib now looked down at the key, deciding that the blue key would probably leaf to her next destination. Now she just needed to find the door that this key unlocked.

Ib arrived back at the intersection and went to her right, but only found a dead end with a table. Upon going straight ahead from the intersection Ib found the door that was linked with the key she had. She took a few steps in, catching some writing on the wall, but was hit by something before she could possibly read the sign.

Ib stayed on the floor, but turned her head to see what had just pushed her. Her eyes widened when she saw a black hand protruding from the wall and waving around, almost in an attempt to hit something. Ib crawled away, moving towards the plaque before standing up, wincing when her knee ached. Ib examined it briefly, deciding it was no big deal when she noticed a red petal on the floor. Ib counted the petals on her rose and realized that she was now missing one. Ib paused, thinking it over. There were fifteen petals until she was hit by the hand, which caused her to lose one. So, whenever she was hit by one of those things she would lose a petal. What would happen if she ran out of petals? Ib got the feeling that if such a thing did happen that it wouldn't be good. This means that she couldn't lose all the petals, ever.

Ib looked at the plaque and sweat dropped once she read it: _Beware of the Edges_. Well, that would have been much more useful three minutes ago. Ib looked back down the narrow path where the hand had hit her, thinking of the best way to go about this. The message warned of the edges, so if she stayed in the middle of the path then she should be able to avoid from being hit. Ib took a few deep breathes, readying herself to fast walk down the hallway. It wasn't a long hallway since she could easily see the other end of it. And there wasn't anything like a door on the side walls, so she wouldn't have to worry about unexpected creatures coming through the doorway.

Taking one more deep breath Ib took off down the hall, keeping her shoulders hunched close to her. Dark hands erupted from the wall, trying to grab at her. Ib was slightly relieved when she realized that the hands could only reach out a certain distance, but was not happy when something grabbed at her ankle just as she stepped out of the hallway. She slightly yelped as she fell onto the floor, putting her arms out to catch herself. Ib managed to keep her rose from being squished, thus resulting in not losing a petal, but her momentary relief was fleeting.

Something was dragging her back into the hallway. Ib could feel their cold grip on her right ankle, their desperate clawing. Ib looked back and nearly screamed. There was a large creature the colour of a chasm and it had red glowing eyes. Multitudes of hands squirmed in the creature's shadow, grabbing at Ib's leg. Ib tried to crawl away, kicking at their hold, but nothing was working. As she was being dragged back Ib could only panic and try to escape while her mind raced.

Ib had just wanted something different for herself. She wanted to leave her home where she felt like an outcast in order to discover what she really wanted to do, to gain experience. More importantly, she wanted to make sure that she had a future doing the only thing she felt talented in; drawing. Ib barely had social skills or any other talents at all. She couldn't even call out for help when she desperately needed it, but who would hear her?

Ib had no idea as to what became of Garry, and to be honest she hadn't been too concerned about him. However, now she wanted him here with her. He probably wouldn't have any idea as to what to do, but his mere presence would make her feel better. Ib didn't like to be alone, not even at night, and especially not here in this strange place. She didn't want to die alone, not ever.

Ib dug her nonexistent nails into the carpet, trying to resist the force dragging her. Not really thinking about it she lurched onto her side and swatted at the hands on her leg, "Stop!" Oddly enough the hands receded, but Ib didn't waste time in watching what was becoming of them. The first chance she got, Ib jumped up and ran away from the hall, not looking back.

Ib only stopped once she had run in circles for a solid minute, breathing harshly when she arrived at the accursed hallway again. Taking a few more steps back from it Ib looked at the two other passageways that looped around to connect again at this intersection. Feeling a bit shaky, Ib decided to just find a door that she may need to go through to continue on. She just needed to keep moving and be more careful of warnings.

After passing various paintings Ib finally arrived at a door, but this door was pretty strange. It was made of six empty frames in a straight down line. There was a knob, so this had to really be a door. Ib stared at the empty frames in thought. 'If there are six frames then that must mean something must go into each frame. Maybe it's a sequence, like a story made of paintings.' Ib carefully went through the two looping hallways, surveying the paintings carefully. There were six frames, and if she guessed right and it was a story sequence then the paintings had to have something in common.

Ib passed a bumble bee, a butterfly, a ladybug, and then a painting titled _Prologue_. Ib paused at the last one, staring at it and then at the others after it that were titled _Chapter One, Chapter Two, _and _Final Chapter_. Ib plucked them off the wall. Now she only needed two more. Ib walked the halls for another minute before arriving back at the butterfly. Ib then plucked the painting off the wall, feeling exasperated for not realizing that the whole sequence was that of a butterfly's life cycle. Still, she needed one more painting.

After thoroughly searching the hall Ib still could not find the last one that she needed. However, carrying the paintings was beginning to hurt her arms. After arriving back at the door Ib decided that she might as well start putting the paintings in the frames, perhaps it would be useful in seeing something she may be missing. Starting at the top, Ib placed the butterfly in the frame, deciding that it was more like the summary and because it wasn't like the others in that there was a process to them. For the next four frames she placed the _Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, _and _The Final Chapter_ in their proper order. However, once she placed them all in the correct order the last empty frame began to change. A strange web began to spin through it, writing out _Epilogue_.

Ib stared at it in question before a butterfly fluttered past her and into the web by mistake. Ib stared at the butterfly as it struggled to escape from the sticky thread in vain. Feeling horrible for the poor insect, Ib bent down and reached forward to untangle it when a long, pointy black leg that could only belong to a spider cut through a small hole in the web. Right before her eyes, Ib could only watch as the butterfly was about to be devoured by the spider. However, as Ib watched the butterfly continue to squirm in a panic she was reminded of her own struggling just a few minutes ago. In essence, Ib was much like this butterfly; both of them were caught in a web. Yet, Ib couldn't stand the thought of not being able to do anything, and if she couldn't do anything then she could only hope that something would save her...Maybe that's what she needed to do, Ib needed to save this butterfly.

To Ib, this epiphany made sense, and so she quickly began to work to try and free the butterfly. The spider bit her hand by mistake just as she destroyed the web around the poor creature. Once it was in her hands, Ib moved to the side and was going to finished taking the webs on the winged bug when the locked door buckled from the weight of something slamming against it. Ib slowly got to her feet, taking slow steps backwards as the door was repeatedly slammed against. It was silent in the hall for a mere second before the door flung open just as the spider slammed into it again.

Ib stared at the large insect in disbelief. It was bigger than a small table and it's eight legs were longer than the average second grader. It looked directly at Ib, all of its eyes nearly glowering when it saw her, and then it lunged at her. Ib dodged to the left and ran around, the spider chasing after her, its many legs allowing it to catch up with her effortlessly. Ib continued running around, trying to think of a way out of the situation. She soon arrived back at the now broken door and ran inside without hesitation.

However, the room was covered in thick, dark crates that reached the ceiling. Ib could hear the spider's legs scuttling closer towards the doorway and she hurriedly searched for anywhere to hide. Her eyes landed on a small opening in the bottom most crate that was just big enough for her to get through. Without any other options Ib got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the opening, following the narrow path. Cobwebs and dust clinged to Ib's hair and clothes. The ground was grainy and covered in dirt. It smeared onto Ib's exposed hands and knees, layering them in a spotted layer of filth that made her hands slip as she crawled.

Ib turned corners, slithered on the ground under lower crates, sneezed so loudly that some of the crates nearly fell on her, and still she had not found her way out of the labyrinth of crates, or even a section that would allow her to sit up straight. Ib would have sighed, but for one the dust would get into her mouth and two, she couldn't show her exasperation by sighing. Ib constantly reminded herself that she was the one who crawled in her to escape a giant spider, so she should be grateful...In a way.

Ib turned another narrow corner, lightly bumping into a few crates when she heard a rattling above her. Ib looked back in time to see crates starting to topple over. Without another look back Ib began to crawl faster, trying to reach the end of this labyrinth before she was crushed by a bunch of wood. She could see a light at the end of the tunnel she was in and lunged for it, scraping her hand when her torso fell a foot, causing her to somersault so that she was sitting up straight when she landed.

Ib waited for her dizzy spell to pass before taking notice of her surroundings. For one she was sitting up properly and passage was no longer narrow and low to the ground. Upon looking up, Ib saw that the crates were in straight rows that created a one way passage. Ib got to her feet and stretched her arms and legs that had been so cramped for a while. She began to follow the crates, careful to not touch them in the slightest just in case they were sensitive. As she was walking, Ib happened to look down and see something rather peculiar.

There were other footprints that did not belong to her.

* * *

**AN: **Late chapter is late. Anyway, Mary did not make her debut this chapter (Sad face), but this chapter was getting a bit too long for the time restraint that I'm on at the moment. However, I do believe that she will be present next chapter. Also, please alert me of any typos so that I may fix them!

Remember to ask me any questions you may have! Also, for those of you whom asked questions earlier I've decided to try and re-answer some of you after much consideration.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO _**REVIEW**_!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Me no own Ib... -tries not to cry- but I do own any poems or songs unless stated otherwise.

Note: There are some _**OCs**_, 'cause the Ib cast is _very _small.

* * *

Wherever art appears, life disappears.

-Robert Motherwell

Chapter Eight

They were there. Small, unheard wisps of incomplete conversations were inscribed here, there, everywhere. The void of nothing was once before broken, shattered into bits, but for how long has repose waited? How long has it been since the wisps died, that the void grew back like moss on a stone? Perhaps forever ago, or even none at all, but one thing is inevitably true: souls once ascended here on a journey much like Ib's own. Perhaps, they too searched for a way out through here, but did they ever reach the end of the lonely labyrinth's grasp?

Perhaps.

Ib followed the footprints forwards, hoping that they led to a way out. As she walked Ib took notice that most of the footprints were bigger than her own or just about the same size. A part of her wished that this meant she was not alone, but a larger part of her was ashamed that she wished such a thing on anyone. Still, Ib, admittedly, did not like to be alone. Not one single bit. Of course, Ib had grown used to being by herself, but others were always around her or in the vicinity whether they be downstairs or in the same room as her.

No, Ib did not fear being _alone_. She feared _isolation_. Which may be better or even worse than just being alone since no one was around. Another human's presence was missing, gone. This is why Ib took such comfort in these footprints. They symbolized that others, even if they were gone, had once been where she was. Besides, Ib still did not know where Garry had gone, but she was not vain enough to believe that only she was meant to be here. No, Garry was probably somewhere in this strange place or...Well, Ib did not know. Perhaps he was still back in the hallway where they had somehow gotten separated from one another.

In any case, Garry was not here with her at the moment. Meaning Ib would have to carry on until she found a way back. Which probably would take some time seeing as this place was like a large maze. Ib sighed inwardly as she reached a crossroad. The tracks extended in both directions, which means that one passage had to lead to a dead end, but which one was it? Ib analyzed the tracks for any indication of which path she should take, but it was a vain attempt. Ib considered herself to be moderate if not proficient in her knowledge, but that did not require learning how to hunt in this day and age. Instead, she chose the wisest decision and went with the path that was eroded with the largest amount of footprints.

Ib continued to follow the path, making sure not to bump into any of the crates on some of the more narrow turns. However, she soon reached a dead end. The footprints ended at the base of a large wall made of stone. How peculiar. It was much taller than Ib was, but did not reach as high as the crates. Ib looked back at the footprints, noticing how they all reached the wall and disappeared. Ib looked behind her at the footprints. She had noticed that as she grew closer towards this dead end that the footprints weren't so heavily predominant. There were also no footprints leading back to the way she came from.

Looking back at the wall now Ib moved in front of it, slowly taking her hand and placing it on one of the stones that jutted out. She pulled on it, testing how sturdy it was. She looked up, eyeing each of these stones wearily before standing on her tiptoes so that she could grasp a few of the jutting stones above her. She clung to them as she moved her feet so that they too rested on the stones. Tentatively, Ib began to climb up the wall, trying her best not to look directly down. As she was nearing the top of the wall when her foot slipped. The sudden lurch threw Ib off balance and she would have plummeted to the ground if something had not grabbed her hand at that moment.

Red met blue. "Hurry, you are really heavy." The girl grunted out, trying to pull Ib over the wall. Snapping out of her stupor Ib grasped the edge of the wall and pulled herself over. The two fell into nothingness, the other girl laughing for some reason, before landing in a strange cushioned chair. Ib felt the wind knocked out of her as the seat literally began to swallow her, the red cushioned fabric closing in on her.

A hand grasped her own and pulled her out before she could suffocate. Ib took a few breathes, glancing away from this _Wine Sofa,_ if the plaque was correct, to look at the blonde girl before her. Ib was quite surprised to see that it was a young female child with blonde hair. Ib couldn't help but notice that the hem of her green dress was singed in some areas, and her blue ribbon was too. Ib looked back at the girl's face and met the girl's blue eyes, which were analyzing Ib also.

They stood there in silence, nearly in complete awkwardness before Ib decided that, being the older one, she should probably start of a conversation. "Hello, I'm Ib."

The young girl's eyes widened a fraction before she quickly covered her slip-up with a large smile, "My names Mary!"

"What are you doing here, Mary?" The girls faced morphed into puzzlement and Ib swore something else flashed across her face, but it was too quick for her to see what it was.

"Well, um...I'm stuck here." She replied, frowning slightly.

'Stuck here?' Ib thought to herself, wondering just how such a thing was even possible. Perhaps Mary was also lost like she was?

"Are you looking to leave, huh, Ib?" Mary asked curiously, staring up into the girl's blank face. Ib nodded in response. Mary turned around, hiding her frown as she put on a faux enthusiastic tone, "I know where an exit is," Mary put on a smile as she turned towards the other girl, "I can take you there."

Ib stared at her. "What about you?"

"I can't leave here, yet." Ib wasn't too keen on why but she shivered at the girl's words, something telling her that they were foreboding.

Mary began to start walking, leaving Ib no choice but to follow her. However, Ib was surprised to learn that Mary really did know her way around the strange place. She would point down certain halls and worn Ib of things that would attack her or if there were just dead ends. Mary also tended to ask Ib a myriad of questions, such as what colour of blue the sky really was, the colour of houses, and about food for some odd reason.

However, only one question really stood out to Ib. They were ascending a few flights of stairs when Mary suddenly turned towards her, nearly causing Ib to bump into her. "Hey, Ib, did you come here with someone else?"

Ib looked up at her and nodded.

"Who was it? Were they a boy or girl?" Mary inquired curiously.

"A boy named Garry." Ib missed the way Mary's eyes narrowed and the dark expression that crossed her face.

"Oh, that must be nice. Having a friend. Do you know where he is right now?" Ib was oblivious to the edge in the younger girl's tone, for the brunette had just realized that she should ask the girl about Kate.

"No, not currently. Mary, have you seen a girl named Kate here?" The girl began to think about it, tapping her chin with her index finger. Ib waited in the deafening silence until Mary's face lit up with recognition, "Yeah! I think I heard it once or twice, but I don't know where she is right now. Maybe your other _friend_ has already met up with her."

"Perhaps..." Ib started, but she was interrupted by Mary's giggles. "Come on, Ib!" The girl began to run up the remaining steps, "Last one up is a rotten egg!" Ib gave a faint smile at the child's antics before following right after her.

They had reached the top of the stairs where a door was waiting. Mary took out a key from her pocket and was about to unlock it. "Mary, why are you stuck here?" Ib asked, the question bothering her. Mary froze in place, but didn't turn around when she responded, "I want to tell you a story. Will you listen, Ib?" Mary didn't wait for the girl to respond before launching into her story.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was born in a small country house. Her father was a very passionate painter who cared very much for his children, and he created a place for all of them to live, but as time went on he became more and more distant, wanting fame more than anything else. He began to visit his children less and less, and at some point he disappeared. His children were taken away and his daughter was separated from the others, forced to remain concealed from everyone else. However, the children still had the place Father created for them, but it slowly began to change. Isolated and alone, the young girl grew more curious about the outside world, but she could no longer leave. However, she was able to reunite with the others by mere coincidence, but she was different from them. She wanted to leave that place for the outside world."

At this point Mary placed the key in the lock, "And it just so happened that she got what she wanted. Two others had happened across their place and befriended the girl, but in the end they betrayed the girl and left her alone, among _other things_." Mary flicked her wrist, unlocking the door.

"What happened to the girl, Mary?" Ib quietly asked. Mary giggled from before her, "Silly, Ib. Don't you know? She burned."

"That's terrible." Mary paused, looking back at Ib silently. Ib took this as a push to explain herself.

"That they burned her. I do not know the circumstances which they were in, but why would they do such a thing? Maybe they had a reason, but to do something so awful..."

Mary turned back around, silently fidgeting with the door knob. In a small voice she asked, "Do you really mean that, Ib?"

"Yes," Ib stated. She wasn't too sure as to what was going on, but Mary seemed terribly troubled by something. Ib gently reached out to touch Mary's shoulder when she saw flames lash out from the girls body. Ib gasped, watching in horror as the girl was completely consumed by enormous flames that racked her small body. "M-Mary..." However, Ib blinked and the entire image was gone, a mere fabrication that possibly had stemmed from the girl's story.

Ib, in her panicked moment, had not heard Mary muttering until then, but she could only catch the very ends of the words. "Are you alright?" Ib asked, unsure of what to do.

Mary kept her back to Ib, "It's not fair. It's not fair!" She shouted, one fist banging on the door before she turned to stare at Ib, her blue eyes filled with anger, her face pinched. She screamed and cried, stomping her foot as she wailed. Ib could only stare in absolute horror at the girl's unprompted temper tantrum. Not sure as to what to do, Ib awkwardly could only stand there. However, as she stared at Mary's crumpled formation of a ball she was reminded of herself. Ib, when alone in her house, would curl in on herself in silent fear. She had been lonely, and Mary, if she was stuck here like she said, was also probably lonely.

Ib sat down besides Mary, letting her back rest against the door as she watched Mary. Once seated close enough to the girl for both their comfort, Ib hesitantly reached out a hand to pat Mary's head. The girl's crying slowly died into sniffles and then she leaned back against the door next to Ib, her eyes still puffy from crying. Slowly, the girl leaned against Ib in silence.

"Another girl did this for me not to long ago," Mary confided in a small, unbalanced voice as Ib soothingly ran her fingers through Mary's hair. "She was taller than you and she sang me a song, which made me really happy. She was really nice, but I'm afraid of seeing her again."

Ib felt obligated to ask why, but she needn't for Mary continued on anyway, "She was hurt while she was here and someone else got hurt. I was too late to help her any." She paused for a few minutes, staring off at something Ib could not see. When she did speak again her voice was stable, but still rather small and sad. "If you want, Ib, I can still take you to the exit."

"**There's no need for such a **_**rash**_** decision."**

The two girls froze at the voice, a dark shadow crossing over Mary's face as she jumped to her feet. Ib looked ahead of her at the staircase where a cloaked figure now stood, also getting to her feet, only slowly.

"**So, this is **_**Ib**_**, huh?"**

Ib was frozen as the cloaked figure was suddenly in front of her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at him. "Ib! Let her go!" Mary yelled somewhere behind her. The figure chuckled darkly, "Oh, Mary. You no longer call the shots. Now, be a good girl and stay out of my way. Unless...You want to be punished." Ib felt herself shiver at those words even though they weren't directed at her. She could feel herself slowly start to panic, but she forced herself to swallow it down. Slowly, her brain began to send her images and messages of expressions her father and mother once told her that she should do when faced with a situation akin to this one. However, screaming was not really Ib's thing, so instead she shut her eyes, scrunching them up, and pulled her leg back before swinging it forward and up.

The creature before her hissed and let go in horrendous pain. Ib didn't spare the mystery man a single glance as she turned around and ran with Mary through the door, the younger girl locking it behind them. They continued running through the halls, Mary leading the way, but when trying to follow the girl around a turn Ib slammed right into a desk. She flopped over it, plopping onto the floor with no grace in the slightest. When the sound caught up with her she heard something shatter and for some reason water was dripping from her head. Ib sneezed loudly before standing up, wiping imaginary dust off of her. Quietly she turned around to stare at a broken vase that had once been full of water, but that substance was now dripping from her head. She sighed heavily, before remembering her rose. She spotted it on the floor and was about to pick it up when a drop of water hit it. Ib stared in awe as the missing petals grew back. Carefully, she picked up the rose and examined it, but the flower was as good as new. Ib looked back at the now broken vase, making a mental note to keep them in mind. It seemed the water here had some special properties.

Ib turned back into the direction she last saw Mary, but the green-clad girl was no longer in sight. Without another choice, Ib began to walk down the hallway, looking out for the child, but when she reached a fork in the road she knew that she was screwed. While debating on which was to go Ib heard a crash from her right. A part of her was suspicious of this and wanted to go left, but then she began to think that it could be Mary. Skeptically, Ib briskly made her way down the hall, nervously looking behind her when she felt that she was being watched. However, looking backwards while walking was never a very smart idea.

Ib tripped and was not able to regain her balance as she landed on something, which turned out to be a familiar _someone._ Ib lifted herself up in shock, staring down at the lavender haired man. Strangely, he hadn't even groaned when she fell on him. She shook his shoulder and then harder when he still didn't respond. Now afraid, Ib decided that drastic means were necessary. She shut her eyes and had lifted up her hand, sending it on a clear path to the boy's fair face when her hand was grabbed.

"W-Woah! I-Ib, is that really you!?" The boy lurched forwards and dragged the girl down, hugging her in both relief and enthusiasm. "Oh my God, I'm so happy that you're okay! We somehow got separated and I ended up with this weird blue rose before I ended up here! Then these things kept attacking me!" Garry sputtered out before pausing and taking a lustrous blue rose from his breast pocket. "That's weird. All the petals were gone a second ago, so how did..." At that exact moment, as if it knew that proof was needed, a small water droplet dripped off of the tip of Ib's bangs, landing directly on the blue flower.

"The water here restores them." Ib stated, catching a droplet in one hand. She looked at the drop before returning her gaze to Garry who, for some reason, had gotten extremely red in the face. Ib peered at him closer, leaning in, remembering that redness in the face could mean fever. "Uh...Um...I-I..er...Ib, c-could you umm..." Ib stared at him, not at all able to understand what he was trying to get at. Garry then began to gesture so Ib looked down, taking notice of her position on his chest, legs on either side. Perhaps he wanted her to get up? The floor really didn't look all that comfortable...

Ib got to her feet and offered a hand to Garry who willingly took it. Once on their feet Ib began to backtrack to the fork in the road, deciding to take the other passage in an attempt to re-encounter Mary. While on the way Garry asked to be informed of all that she had experienced so far, and so she did, but only because she felt that he deserved to know.

Once she was finished Garry remained silent, processing it all. "Well, it sounds like we entered this place from two different locations, but that might be because of these," He held up his own rose, "But your experience sounds different from mine. I didn't fall or anything. I just kept walking and walking in the dark until I found it, but there were these thorns covering the glass cage it was in. I managed to get it out, but it didn't grow any bigger. I heard something behind me and just ran until I reached this door, and when I opened it I was in this place." He summed up, shivering at the memory of it all. Ib just nodded, only faltering in her step when she spotted a painting she remembered. The plaque underneath read: _The Red Lady_.

The two stared at the painting, remembering that they had seen it by the office on the first day they had arrived. The portrait was remarkable, and the brunette woman was indeed very pretty, her eyes mysterious and yet were spotted with other emotions that Ib did not know how to describe, but some of them were perhaps lust, softness, and a temptation. "Wow, this is amazin-Ahhhh!" Garry screamed when the woman's hands reached through the painting.

The two jumped back, watching as the woman _growled_ at them, like some feral beat! After her arms came her head and then torso. The painting began to teeter in place before falling to the floor, and then once she snapped out of the small shock the woman stared up at them and smiled like she were hungry, and then raced towards them. Garry, screaming like a trooper the whole entire time, grabbed Ib's hand and so the two of them raced away from the feral, possibly hungry painting of a woman who could be nothing but mad in the head! However, the painting was singing for her dinner and was hot on their trail.

Ib, seeing as how Garry was screaming away yet still somehow running, felt unexpectedly calm. Perhaps it was due to Garry. Perhaps she was just tired of things trying to attack her. Whatever it was Ib didn't care. When she saw the opportunity she took it. Ib changed directions and dragged Garry down another hallway, grasping at door knobs until one opened, before shoving them both inside and closing the door. They leaned against said door, breathing heavily. Garry sunk to the floor, his arms limply hanging onto his legs with his head in the middle. Ib leaned against the door next to him, her mind wrapped up in what happened before she heard something like a clicking. Her eyes snapped to Garry who was holding a lighter in his hands, his eyes glassily reflecting the warm light of the small fire. Ib stared at it too, silence engulfing them.

The longer Ib stared at the lighter the greater her headache became. It was as if a woodpecker were drilling a hole into her brain, so she turned away from the fire and surveyed the room instead, noting that there was only a door on the other side of the room. Ib walked over to it and found a small key in the keyhole. She unlocked the door, but was disappointed when she found that the door had many locks on it and the key, unfortunately, did not open all of them. Sighing, Ib put the key in her pocket with the rose and walked back to Garry, bending down in front of him. They stared at the other for at least thirty short seconds before Garry flipped his lighter closed.

"Sorry about freaking out. I just-this place is so strange. It's almost like its familiar, but I don't know how that could be possible." Garry pocketed his lighter, "I don't know why but there are only two things that really calm me down, and one of those things is my lighter." He got to his feet when Ib did, giving her a reassuring smile, "Sorry for worrying you." Ib only nodded, more surprised than anything that he knew she was upset, but this wasn't the first time he had noticed, "After All, we're partners so I shouldn't be the one screaming every time."

Garry began to mutter something under his breath about how he needed to get a grip, not realizing that Ib was now blushing. Garry had stated that they were _partners_, and that was something that she wouldn't mind being repeated. Ib had never had a partner before, or at least a willing one. When she was partnered up in school most kids were reluctant to have her in their group, but here this boy was, a guy she had somehow _befriended_, who was partnering with her on his own free will. If it wasn't for the situation Ib would have cried in joy.

"Thank you." Ib quietly said, prompting Garry to shut up and stare at her in puzzlement. "For what?"

Ib only turned back towards the door and opened it, smiling, leaving Garry somewhat confused, but the boy just shrugged it off as a _girl thing_, but in all honestly he had a good idea of what Ib had meant.

The two walked through the halls quietly, keeping an eye out for _The Red Lady _incase she was still hunting them. They had just come to a strange spiral staircase when Ib noticed that on the base of the steps was a key much like the one she had seen Mary with earlier. Picking up the key the two made their way to the top of the staircase where there was a door, Ib placed the key into the lock, unsure if it would work. However, it did unlock and they were about to walk through when Ib heard her name being called. The two turned to see Mary at the base of the steps, looking up at them. "Ib! Please, don't leave me here!"

Ib felt herself falter, remembering that the girl was stuck here, but her and Garry needed to leave. They had to go back to the school so that they could rest and come up with a new plan of action. Garry, realizing Ib's predicament, looked her in the eye seriously, "We'll come back for her. We need to find Kate still and we can figure out a way to rescue Mary also." Ib nodded sadly, looking down at Mary. "We'll come back!" Garry yelled to the blonde just as the staircase began to creak and wobble. The whole building seemed to be quaking beneath their feet, "Come on!" Garry yelled, pulling Ib through the door.

The blinked as darkness enveloped them, but they were still aware of themselves. The two were a bit squished together, and Garry's hand moved across the wall trying to find some form of a light fixture or switch, or even a door knob! He finally grasped something that felt like a knob and turned it, allowing blinding light to enter the room. The two collapsed, falling out of the small closet that smelled of cleaner, and onto the cold hard floor. They scrambled to their feet and looked around; they were back at the school!

Garry looked at his watch, collapsing back on the floor when he read that it was 8:10 PM. Ib too was relieved, but could hardly believe that they had only been gone for ten minutes! However, they faintly heard shoes clicking in the distance, coming closer to them rapidly. They scrambled up, shutting the closet door quietly, before taking off down the hall. They ran into the cafeteria and raced through the exit, not stopping until they were at the crossway between the dorms. The two were hunched over, hands on their knees, as they tried to catch their breath.

Garry began to chuckle, plopping himself on the ground in relief. Ib smiled down at him, feeling utterly exhausted. They both decided that they could wait to talk about anything until tomorrow, but they promised each other that they wouldn't go back to _that _place without informing the other first, just to be on the safe side.

"Goodnight, Ib." Garry stated, waving as he began to walk towards the men's dorm. Ib waved also, "Goodnight."

Ib arrived back at the dorm extremely exhausted in both mind and body. All she wanted to do was to get some sleep and think about all that just happened later, but as she was heading towards her room she paused, her eyes catching movement on the stairs. "Ib?" A loud voice that could only belong to one girl called out, "What'cha doin' up? Can you not sleep? Why is your shirt ripped in the back?" Amelia was upon Ib in mere seconds, scanning her over. Suddenly, a smirk began to spread over her face. Ib was sure that whatever the girl was thinking was very wrong.

"Ib~ Tell mama Amelia the truth now, were you just out with some boy?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Ib sighed, but didn't deny it...She had been out with Garry, but probably not in the sense Amelia was thinking of.

"Yes." She admitted, causing Amelia to sputter and let out an unladylike "HUH?! What, seriously?"

"I was with Garry and-" Ib was going to tell her that they had just happened to meet up, but Ib didn't want to lie to the girl and Amelia interrupted her anyway by hugging her to her breasts. "My poor baby! Those horrible men are trying to ravage my lil' Ib! I'll have to sick Gilly on him later...Tell me, did he do anything weird or touch you?"

Amelia was only being melodramatic and was kidding around. She didn't expect for Ib to admit anything! The worst part was that Ib was asking why Garry looked so red when she fell on him! Amelia only laughed and hugged Ib, leading the girl to her room. "Ib, let me start you off on a brand new course. It's called _Boys 101: The Do's and Don'ts_. Mama Amelia will explain all."

* * *

**AN: **Wow, this was a pretty quick update. I should have been writing my research paper last night, but finished this instead. I don't know why but this chapter just spewed out of my fingers within an hour and a half. Well, does a speedy update deserve reviews? YES? YeSSsSssS?

**Review** or the cloaked guy and The Red Lady will eat you~


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